Abstract

The present study is an attempt to analyze the playtime interaction of six families who have deaf children aged between 4 and 6 years. Three of the families had deaf parents while the other three had hearing parents. The study observed, in particular, the verbal and non verbal communicative-relational aspects of their interaction. Many studies, conducted during the first developmental stages of deaf children, have revealed significant differences between deaf mothers and hearing mothers in relation to their interaction with their deaf children. The current research intends to verify if these distinct differences are also recognizable in later years. Results show that deaf parents and hearing parents utilise communicative styles and strategies in different ways. We propose that the communicative strategies that the deaf parents use in a natural way with their deaf children could represent models that are valid, both for hearing parents and in an educational role, in order to promote communication with deaf children.