Social interaction in hearing-impaired adolescents at mutual schools and at segregated schools

People with hearing impairment experience more limitations in communication and social interactions than hearing individuals. The present study was designed to compare social interaction of hearing- impaired adolescents at mutual schools with that of those studying in schools for the abnormal. In this cross-sectional study, a stratified sample of 79 students (40 mutual students, 39 segregated ones) were recruited out of 12-18 year old hearing-impaired adolescents who were studying in secondary and high schools in Tehran city. Half of had mild or moderate hearing loss and the other half had severe or profound hearing loss. Using a self-designed questionnaire, consisting of 19 questions (adapted from social and emotional domains of ‘Adolescents Hearing-related Quality of life Scale’) the adolescents were questioned about their problems in social interaction. Mann-Whitney test and t-test were used to compare social interaction scores of students in segregated schools and mutual setting in general, and regarding severity of hearing loss; based on normality test results. It was found that at mutual settings ‘total social interaction scores’ and ‘interaction with friends Scores’ of adolescents with mild and moderate hearing loss were better than the scores of those studying in segregated settings (P=0.05). Conversely, at segregated settings ‘social interactions scores’ of adolescents with severe and profound hearing loss were better than the scores of those studying in mutual settings (P=0.05). Short term effects of mainstreaming on social interaction of students with mild to moderate hearing loss and severe to profound hearing loss seems to be different. Thus, this finding should be taken into account in school appointing for hearing impaired adolescents.