Abstract

This research examines the performance of deaf children with deaf parents (dc/dp) and deaf children with hearing parents (dc/hp) on the WISC-R, Performance Scale based on data collected during the development of deaf norms for the WISC-R, Performance Scale (Anderson & Sisco, 1977). Dc/dp performed significantly better than dc/hp on all performance subtests. The differences between the two groups of deaf children cannot be explained solely by the early use of manual communication with deaf children by deaf parents. Dc/dp also performed significantly better than hearing children who are linguistically superior to both groups of deaf children. Differences in nurturing and early child-rearing experiences of dc/dp and dc/hp may be the crucial determinants of cognitive functioning in deaf children. A discussion of the significance and implications of the research is provided.

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