Differences in self-advocacy among hard of hearing and typical hearing students

Abstract

BackgroundSelf-advocacy is considered a protective factor of psychosocial and academic problems among students with special needs. AimsTo asses self-advocacy among students with hearing loss and compare it to that of typical hearing students. Methods and procedureThe current study examined 27 hard of hearing (hh) students and 27 typical hearing students, all studying in mainstream classes. They completed the Hope Scale, a self-esteem scale, a self-efficacy scale, and a measure of self-advocacy statements. Data regarding the hh participants’ spoken language abilities were collected through their itinerant teachers. Outcomes and resultsHH students reported lower levels of self-esteem than the typical hearing students. Emotional self-efficacy was positively correlated with age among the hh students, and hope and effort were negatively correlated with age among typical hearing students. Some significant positive correlations emerged among the hh participants between their syntactic and pragmatic abilities and several self-advocacy indicators. Conclusions and implicationsInterventions aimed at enhancing self-advocacy among hh students should focus on intensifying their self-esteem as well as their syntactic and pragmatic abilities.