The Development of Self-Perception in Children with Hearing Impairments in Different Schooling Settings

The article presents a pilot study on the influence of different learning environments on the personal development of children with hearing impairments. The work was carried out with hearing-impaired, deaf and normally hearing pupils from special and general schools. The following methods were used: 1) clinical interview aimed at clarifying the child’s attitude towards him/her-self and his/her perceptions of the self in the society; 2) M. Kuhn’s test “Who am I?” (modified by T. V. Rumyantseva); 3) analysis of essays on the topic “Me in the Future” (for the high school students). Qualitative analysis of the results showed that when children can communicate simultaneously with hearing children and with children with hearing impairments their self-perception is more comfortable, they do not experience any problems with the identification. However, the issue of integration must be approached carefully and thoughtfully. The selected form should contribute to the normalization of life of each individual deaf child; it should help his/her overall development and integration into normal social relationships.

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