CAN I PLAY - A HEARING-IMPAIRED PRESCHOOLERS REQUESTS TO ACCESS MAINTAINED SOCIAL-INTERACTION

Peer culture in the preschool classroom dictates the unwritten rule fo r communication. In an integrated setting, a hearing-impaired child an d a subgroup of his peers were examined to establish patterns of commu nication interaction. Observations of classroom activities and peer co mmunication were collected. Using micro-ethnographic techniques, these videotaped data were analyzed in an attempt to identify the communica tion strategies employed by the child. Patterns of strategies used by the hearing-impaired child were successful for accessing social intera ctions. These strategies were similar to those of his familiar peer su bgroup. Nonverbal strategies for accessing prevailed, but the integrat ed setting promoted the verbal access of ''Can I play?'' even though i t was not successful in gaining access to peer social interactions.