What Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Adolescents Know and Think About AIDS

AIDS is a major problem for current and future generations. Lack of information about it, including how it is transmitted and how it can be prevented, places adolescents at risk. This study focused attention on the knowledge and opinions of deaf and hard-of-hearing adolescents on the topics of HIV and AIDS. The results suggest that the adolescents who participated in the study had a general idea about what they are, as well as the potential impact of the disease. However, they demonstrated important gaps in their knowledge of how HIV and AIDS are transmitted and prevented, and who can get AIDS. We recommend greater educational attention to the topic, given the harsh reality that adolescence may well be the primary time period for infection, even though the symptoms may not appear until many years later.