The social and emotional adjustment of hearing‐impaired children integrated in primary schools

Summary

The Bristol Social Adjustment Guide and the Rutter Children's Behaviour Questionnaire were administered to 23 hearing‐impaired children, with a mean loss of 66.7 dB and aged between 4.3 and 10.9 years, integrated into ordinary schools, and 23 hearing controls. They comprised the entire norvadditionally handicapped, hearing‐impaired primary‐age population of Stockport. High levels of maladjustment were found among the hearing‐impaired (43.5 per cent) on the Bristol and also among the hearing controls (30.4 per cent). No child was found to be maladjusted on the Rutter. The difference in the two tests’ scores suggests that they measure different behaviours, and that the problems are broadly ‘social’ rather than ‘emotional’. There were no significant differences in adjustment between the two groups.