The verbal environment provided by hearing mothers for their young deaf children

Abstract

A quantitative and qualitative analysis was made of the speech directed by three hearing mothers to their young deaf children. Each mother spoke in short sentences that were usually grammatically complete, used a repetitious and restrictive vocabulary, and repeated her own utterances far more frequently than do mothers of hearing children. The mothers missed many opportunities for involving their children in verbal interaction. This, as well as the differences in speech patterns found among the mothers, is discussed.