DEAF AND HEARING PARENTS INTERACTIONS WITH ELDEST HEARING CHILDREN

Observational methods were used to gather data from 54 individuals in 9 Deaf-parented families and 9 hearing-parented families whose eldest hearing children were aged 7 to 11 years old. Transcripts of parent/ch ild dyadic interactions during a vacation planning activity were analy zed using Condon, Cooper and Grotevant's (1984) Individuation Code. Re peated measures ANOVAS were conducted with the independent variables o f the parent's gender (mother versus fathers) and group membership (De af-parented versus hearing-parented families) on the percentage of com munication that reflected self-assertion, separateness, permeability, and mutuality. There were no significant differences between children from Deaf-parented families versus children from hearing-parented fami lies. There was a significant main effect for parents in communication reflecting self-assertion; namely hearing parents had a higher percen tage of self-assertive communication than Deaf parents.