Deaf and hearing parents' perceptions of family functioning

The purpose of this descriptive study was to compare Deaf and hearing parents' perceptions of family functioning. The Feetham Family Functioning Survey (FFFS) was administered in American Sign Language on videotape to 40 Deaf mothers and fathers and in its original written English form to a comparison group of 40 hearing mothers and fathers. There were no statistically significant differences in FFFS discrepancy (D) subscale scores among Deaf versus hearing parents. Deaf and hearing parents' scores on the FFFS importance (C) subscale items were used to identify the 10 areas of family functioning most important to the parents. Agreement among Deaf and hearing parents was noted on 7 of 10 items ranked as most important. One difference was that Deaf parents ranked leisure/recreational activities as more important than hearing parents.