Longing to belong. Interaction, relationships and identity of deaf and hard of hearing young adults
The overall aim of the thesis is to identify and study the understanding of deaf and hard of hearing young women’s and men’s living conditions and how they shape their adult life, construction of social identity and social establishment.
Project manager at MDU
To be hard of hearing can mean anything from easier reduction of the hearing to deafness. In this thesis focuses on deaf people’s (D) and young adults with a severe hearing loss, hard of hearing (HH). Having a reduced hearing through school time and working life affects the individual in several different ways. How we look at ourselves depends largely on our relationships with others with loved ones as well as temporary acquaintances. Through school and working life we usually create a social network. Our relationships with others are largely designed in conversation with people around us. In several different studies it has shown that D/HH students have a difficult school situation and that they have a lesser extent to reach the national learning goals than their hearing peers.