ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns the young deaf person, considering the period of secondary schooling, leaving school and entering work, training or higher education, the period of adolescence, and the transition to adulthood. It focuses on social aspects of development, including family relationships, peer relationships, and developing partner relationships. The variety of language and modes available to the young person means that for parents and other family members there is an issue about their own language and communication. Leigh and Stinson suggested that problems of family integration can be magnified by problems in communication, and as Kluwin and Gaustad stated: 'In the absence of a shared communication system there is a general sense of isolation of family members'. The consequent and inevitable biculturalism that develops within the family is likely to have profound effects on family dynamics and social relationships, effects that remain largely unexplored.
