Strategies Deaf Mothers Use When Reading to Their Young Deaf or Hard of Hearing Children

The purpose of the study was to examine behaviors utilized by deaf mothers when reading to their deaf or hard of hearing children aged three to five years. Six deaf mothers were video-taped while reading the same book. The videotapes were transcribed and coded by two observers. Data analysis revealed six specific strategies that the mothers used while reading. These included sign placement, text paired with signed demonstration, real world connection between text and child's experience, attention maintenance, physical demonstrations of character changes, and non-manual signals as questions.