PARENT-CHILD INTERACTION WITH HEARING-IMPAIRED CHILDREN AND NORMAL HEARING CHILDREN

The study assessed parent-child interactions of five normal hearing children and five hearing-impaired children, aged 3-5. The mothers and fathers were administered the Mother-Child Relationship Evaluation (MCRE) to evaluate paLental attitudes. Each parent and child participated in a 10-minute interactive play activity. The child's language level was estimated by the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised. No significant differences were found between the mothers ' and the fathers ' attitudes. No significant differences were found between parents of normal hearing children and parents of hearing-impaired children on any of the four attitude scales of the MCRE. However, a significant difference was found between the two groups of children in terms of estimated language level, with hearing-impaired children being less advanced. Results also showed that parents of normal hearing children used more verba