Attitudes Toward the Capabilities of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adults: Insights From the Parents of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

• Published in: American annals of the deaf (Washington, D.C. 1886) D.C. 1886), 2015, Vol.160 (1), p.24-35
• Main Authors: Crowe, Kathryn, McLeod, Sharynne, McKinnon, David H., Ching, Teresa Y. C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Adults; Attitude; Attitude Measures; Attitudes; Attitudes toward Disabilities; Auditory perception; Australia; Beliefs; Child Development; Child, Preschool; Children; Community Relations; Deaf; Deafness; Deafness - psychology; Disabilities; Disability; Education; Environment; Environmental health; Expressive Language; Factor Analysis; FEATURED ARTICLES; Female; Foreign Countries; Genetic counseling; Hard of Hearing; Health Personnel; Hearing; Hearing disorders; Hearing Impairments; Hearing loss; Humans; Individual Characteristics; Intellectuals; Intelligence; Interpersonal Relationship; Language Skills; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Medical personnel; Mental health; Mental Health Workers; Middle Aged; Negative Attitudes; Occupations; Opinions about Deaf People Scale; Parent Attitudes; Parent Surveys; Parents; Parents - psychology; People with disabilities; Personality Traits; Persons With Hearing Impairments - psychology; Positive Attitudes; Prior Learning; Psychological attitudes; Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results; Scores; Sign language; Socioeconomic Status; Statistical Analysis; Studies; Surveys and Questionnaires; World health organization; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0002-726X; 1543-0375; 1543-0375
• DOI: 10.1353/aad.2015.0013

CHILDREN WHO are d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) grow up in environments influenced by their parents’ attitudes, which may facilitate or impede these children’s development and participation (World Health Organization, 2007). The attitudes of 152 Australian parents of DHH children ages 3 years 7 months to 9 years 5 months (M= 6 years 5 months) were investigated with the Opinions About Deaf People Scale (Berkay, Gardner, & Smith, 1995a). The parents’ responses showed very positive attitudes toward the capabilities of DHH adults, particularly on items describing their intellectual and vocational capabilities. Parents’ responses to most of the items on the scale were positively skewed, raising questions about its validity as a research tool when used with parents of DHH children. The study findings suggest that for these children, parents’ attitudes may facilitate rather than present an environmental barrier to their development.