SELF CONCEPT AND ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF HEARING IMPAIRED STUDENTS IN ONDO STATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS

Abstract This study was designed to investigate the relationship between the self-concept and academic performance of hearing impaired students attending special and regular schools through the use of Adolescent Personal Data Inventory (Akinboye, 1985). A simple survey design was used in the study. The product-moment correlation co-efficient and itest statistic were used to compare the two groups on their self-concept and academic achievement. The findings of the study revealed significant relationship between self-concept and academic achievement of the subjects. There was no significant difference in the self-concept of subjects in the special and regular schools while there was a significant difference in the academic performance of the two groups of subjects. These findings were discussed and appropriate counseling suggested with a view to enhancing the self-concept and correspondingly the academic performance of students Hearing impairment is a sensory disorder that affects the auditory system of the sufferer. It is a condition that prevents or limits the perception and interpretation of acoustic signals by the victim. Hearing impairment can occur at any time in one's life time. In other words, the time of onset of hearing impairment varies from victim to victim. It could occur from birth and this is known as congenital deafness. Sometimes it could occur after birth or at adult age. This is known as acquired or adventitious deafness. On the other hand, deafness can be described through the extent of language development of the child. Pre lingual deafness refers to the deafness that occurred before mastery of language skills, while post lingual deafness refers to deafness that occurred after language skills have been learned. Deafness has a devastating effect on the victims especially in the area of communication. Brill (1975) stated that: Although hearing impairment is classified as a physical handicap, the actual handicapping condition occurs in the area of communication and hence is not 'physical' in the usual of the term. In other words, the problem of the hearing impaired individual be it congenital, acquired, or pre-lingual or post-lingual ranges from total lack of speech to a little but defective one. This is explained when some people exhibit low pitch while others have high pitch. Some more others may show some audible but non coherent sound that is not characteristic of human beings