Developing and Enhancing A Positive Self-Concept in Deaf Children

This paper looks at the psychological issue of self-esteem, presenting ideas and opinions from various sources on developing and enhancing a positive self-image in deaf children.

The objective is to make educators aware of how positive and negative interactions and communications can influence deaf children. It is to be hoped this paper will encourage teachers and others to make a personal, introspective evaluation of how we communicate and interact with deaf children daily and how that affects the way deaf children feel about themselves.

The focus here is not to delineate why a deaf child may have low self-esteem, but to inspire motivation and enthusiasm on the part of teachers and others toward fostering a healthy self-concept in all hearing-impaired children.