The social relationships between deaf adolescents and their hearing classmates

This article examines the social relationships developed between deaf students and their hearing peers, educated in mainstream secondary schools with an oral mode of communication. The study focuses on a sample of twenty deaf and twenty hearing adolescents. Using a sociogram, the selection and rejection of students in the sample by their classmates is analysed, as well as the reasoning behind these choices. The results show that deaf students, in general, have an integrated social position, though they do not take leadership roles. It is not until the end of adolescence that there appear cases of non- integrated deaf adolescents. Finally, this study has educational implications for improving social interaction. © 2012 Fundación Infancia y Aprendizaje.