Strangers in the house? Communication between mothers and their hearing impaired children who sign

Abstract

Many hearing impaired children rely on signing as a method of communication and are educated through this medium at school. While there is a paucity of information on the use of signing in the home, the impression in the literature is that these children are often unable to communicate through this medium in their homes. This has serious implications for family relationships as well as the personal well-being, educational success and social integration of the child. The present study explored the signing experience of 45 mothers of children in the junior primary phase at schools for the deaf in the Durban region of KwaZulu-Natal as a reflection of the use of signing within the home. A descriptive survey design, using two researcher administered questionnaires, was used to obtain information on the signing practice of mothers, exploring aspects related to the extent to which signing is used, the type of signing used and signing proficiency. The findings revealed mothers' signing skill to be inadequate in terms of their own assessment on rating scales and descriptions of their signing. They signed less frequently than their children did, using speech more often, and with the vast majority using simultaneous communication when they did sign. Signing ability was judged to be below that of their children, with sign vocabularies of between 0-50 words for 85% of the participants. It appears that sign learning by hearing parents of deaf children in this region needs to be actively promoted. The implications of these findings are discussed to address the communication needs of signing deaf children and their families within the South African context.