Differing patterns of dyadic interaction during free-play between deaf and hearing mothers and their deaf and hearing children

The Greenspan-Lieberman Observational System-Revised (GLOS-R) (Greenspan & Lieberman, 1980) was used to describe characteristics of dyadic interactions between three groups of mothers and their two-year old children: Hearing mothers and hearing children (HH); deaf mothers and deaf children (DD); hearing mothers and deaf children (HD). Results indicated effects on interactions from both mother and child status. Deaf mothers produced fewer interactive behaviors than hearing mothers, apparently in order to accommodate infants' visual attention needs. Children did not differ on frequency of interactive behaviors; however, DD and HD children were more likely than hearing children to react in a manner initially indicated by GLOS-R coding to be anticontingent. Additional analysis indicated this was a misinterpretation for DD reflecting adaptive attentional patterns. However, this was not the case for HD children who also responded to mothers' communications less often. Dyadic assessment procedures require some modifications when applied to dyads of deaf mothers and children. Findings suggest that it is difficult for mothers to override their own communicative experiences. Without parent training, this may result in a disruption in the bi-directional influences between hearing mothers and deaf children.