Loneliness, Independence, and Identity in Deaf Adolescents

.Adolescence has been considered as an era with rapid changes in so many aspects of life, like corporal, cognitive, and social aspects. The hearing impaired teenagers face a lot of complications in the struggle to gain identity, independence, and developmental self-actualization. Deaf people mostly face a biased interaction with their society and, as a result, instead of being considered teenagers with special needs, they are considered as deaf disabled people. The present paper is an attempt to address different parameters which affect the life of deaf adolescents including identity, independence, and loneliness.
We investigated most of the studies which were conducted on challenges of deaf teenagers during their adolescence. Both English and Farsi papers were collected and investigated since 1981 using search engines SID, SAGE, WILEY, SCOPUS, SCIENCE DIRECT, EMERALD, and ERIC PUBMED. In so doing, the following keywords were used: hearing, deafness, hearing disorders, hearing loss, adolescence, adulthood, puberty, identity, independence, and loneliness.
Different parameters can affect the identity, independence, and the loneliness of the deaf teenagers which should be investigated to first prevent and then minimize their problems and psycho-social issues to facilitate their growth.
By conducting more goal oriented studies and collecting more data, we can gain more information, so better programs can be set for the future of the deaf teenagers. Parents’ decision on using cochlear implant or hearing aids, choosing an appropriate school, access to effective communication inside and outside the home, having a supporting group with which the deaf teenager can coordinate themselves, and etc. can all be powerful means by which a deaf teenager can develop a meaningful identity and reduce possible negative effects of deafness.