This study examined the peer social behaviors of 38 children who were deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) and 44 hearing children during free play in small integrated groups. Nine minutes of free play data were videotaped for each child and analyzed for the presence of 15 social behaviors in four categories: peer interaction; play; peer initiations/child responses; child initiations/peer responses. Children who were D/HH and hearing engaged equally frequently in positive and negative interaction, parallel play, and solitary play. Both groups engaged in similar patterns of initiations and responses with peers. However, children who were D/HH engaged in less linguistic interaction and associative/cooperative play than the hearing children.
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