Les interactions sociales des enfants sourds-aveugles

Social interactions between deaf and blind children and their educators Ten deaf and blind children aged between thirteen and fifteen years old were videotaped while interacting with an adult educator in a semi-structured solving problem situation. Two factors are operated : the adult's status - Familiar vs Unfamiliar - and the familiar adult's availability for interacting - Available vs Unavailable. The elementary behavioral events observed in the dyads were coded and processed by a program which allows the detection of hidden behavior patterns through automatic detection of special relations between the time distribution of behavioral event types. The content analysis of these patterns showed that the deaf-blind children were able to participate in structured interactions. Those structures demonstrated important social skills as drawing others' attention, referring and requiring for others' cooperation and their capacities to adapt their behaviors as a function of the partner 's availability and status. Although the interactions were brief and weakly structured, we can't describe them as abnormal.Dix enfants sourds-aveugles, âgés de 13 à 15 ans, sont filmés lors d'interactions avec un éducateur adulte dans une situation semi-structurée de résolution de problème. Deux facteurs sont manipulés : la disponibilité du partenaire adulte (disponible / non disponible) et son statut (familier / non familier). Un logiciel détecte automatiquement les combinaisons non aléatoires (patterns) d'au moins deux comportements élémentaires relevés pour chacun des interactants. L'analyse de contenu des patterns montre les compétences sociales des sujets (attirer l'attention; indiquer un réfèrent; requérir la coopération autrui...) et l'adaptation de leurs conduites à la disponibilité et au statut du partenaire, plutôt qu'un fonctionnement pathologique des interactions.Sèvre Sabine. Les interactions sociales des enfants sourds-aveugles. In: Enfance, n°2, 1999. pp. 111-136