Social emotional goals for students who are deaf and hard of hearing: special education teacher interviews

The aim of the study is to provide an in-depth understanding of the use of social-emotional goals in Individualized Education Program (IEP) for elementary students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH). Thus, there is a need to provide more than academic skills in school, which are related to social-emotional learning. Over the past century, society and life experiences of students in various age groups have evolved. These adjustments could have a negative impact on the economy and community institutions. Students’ social, emotional, and moral development are impacted by all of these changes. The participants of the study were thirteen teachers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to investigate the phenomenon of the use of IEP goals related to social-emotional competencies. Five themes were discussed by the participants. The themes were communication skills, academic goals, low self-belief, isolation, and inclusion. The purpose of this study is to increase the awareness of applying non-academic IEP goals, such as social-emotional goals, for students who are DHH. This will increase the welfare of students who are DHH and allow them greater involvement in the school community.