Child deafnes and mother-child interaction

The effects of child deafness on mother-child interaction were investigated by observing mother-child dyads in free-play situations. 6 deaf child-hearing mother pairs were compared with 6 hearing pairs. All children were between 13.2 and 29.2 months of age at the onset of the study. None of the mothers of the deaf children was fluent in any form of manual communication. Individual mother-child pairs visited the laboratory/playroom for 4 sessions over a 2-month period. The deaf children were found to be more passive and less actively involved in the interactions than their hearing counter-parts. Mothers of deaf children were always more dominant in interaction with their children than mothers of hearing children.