Because research on social integration indicates that physical proximity to normal-hearing peers may result in neither social interaction nor social acceptance, teachers may need to help their hearing impaired students to specifically develop social communication skills. Teachers may also need to create opportunities for social interaction between…

A social interaction intervention program implemented with three groups of preschool hearing-impaired children increased positive interaction, sharing, and conversation. Generalization of skills was observed when toys incorporated into intervention activities were presented during free-play probes. The importance of incorporating generalization…

A sequential withdrawal design was used to examine the effect of social skills intervention on the frequency of positive peer interaction in four moderately hearing-impaired preschool children. High rates of positive peer interaction were maintained when teacher modeling and prompting were gradually (but not abruptly) withdrawn. (Author/DB)

Strategies to increase positive peer interactions of young children with hearing impairments include reducing teacher-child interactions, changing classroom activity structure, social skills intervention, peer-mediated interventions, increasing familiarity through intensive contact, and peer orientation. Evidence of effectiveness of these…

This paper describes Gordon Allport's contact theory (which contrasts effects of casual contact and contact leading to acquaintanceship) and the findings of social integration research. Theories are applied to fostering true social integration of hearing-impaired students being educated in mainstream settings. Educators are urged to maximize…