The research of the social skills of hearing impaired students who attend the primary school

The purpose of this study is to maintain the social skill levels of hearing impaired students at elementary school level and to analyze if their social skill levels differ, based on; age, gender, school type, device they use and their communication methods.This study is a relational screening study that aims to analyze the social skill levels of hearing impaired students at elementary school level based on various variables. The population of the study consists of the hearing impaired elementary school students living in İzmir. 114 hearing impaired students who study at first level in İzmir in 2010-2011 school year, volunteered for the study. Social Skills Assessment Scale were used to collect the required data and a Personal Information Form, developed by the researcher, were used to collect the required personal data from the students involved in the study.According to the performed assessments, it was seen that social skill levels of the hearing impaired students at elementary school level differed based on the school type, gender and communication methods. Social skill level of the female students were seen to be higher than the male students. For the school type variable; inclusive school students were found to have higher social skill levels than the students at private schools for hearing impaired students. For the communication methods variable; students that use verbal communication were found to have a higher social skill level than the students using the sign language or both. For the device-in-use variable ; no differences were found. However, in some sub-scales, students that use cochlear implant scored higher than the students using other devices. For the age and device usage status variables; social skill levels of the students showed no