Attachment behaviors were compared for groups of mother/deaf preschool child dyads where only oral communication was used and where total communication was used. Results showed that very few of the children were distressed by separation from their mothers. Further, the children's level of communicative competence was shown to be associated with…

Examines the differential mode usage (speech, vocalize, gesture and sign) of profoundly deaf preschoolers and their hearing mothers as a function of their level of communicative competence and method of communication. Relates simultaneous use of modes to higher communicative competence and specific pragmatic types of communication. (Author/MES)

The existing outcome literature on the use of oral-only and total communication approaches for young deaf children is reviewed and methodological and practical difficulties of outcome research explored. The authors propose a developmental/transactional, clinically based process model for evaluating the effectiveness of early intervention.…

A study was designed to examine the attachment behavior of 28 preschool deaf children and their hearing mothers and compare their patterns of behavior to previous reports of normal hearing dyads, and within this sample examine the relationship between communicative ability and phase of attachment. The sample was subdivided by communication…