Psycho-social development of deaf children with ID

Aim: To investigate the psychosocial development of deaf children with ID who attend an integrated (deaf and hearing students) and bilingual (Italian and Italian Sign Language) school. The aim was to identify the resources in the family and scholastic contexts and structure interventions to promote adaptive skills. Method: The sample comprised 34 hearing, 11 deaf and 4 deaf with ID students, from 1st to 5th grade. Parents and teachers were involved in the research. We investigated: children’s adaptive behaviour (ABAS II), parental stress (PSI) and children’s behaviour in class (videotaped observation). Results: Parents and teachers representation of children’s development focuses on different aspects. Parents of deaf children with ID had higher PSI scores. Class observations showed a higher prevalence of oppositional behaviour in deaf children with ID. Moreover, they used sign language as a preferred communication method with peers and teachers. Conclusion: Teachers’ and parents’ collective knowledge promotes a better understanding of children’s adaptive competence. When a high level of stress is observed, parenting support programmes are implemented to improve the parent-child relationship. An integrated and bilingual context facilitates the psychosocial development of deaf children with I