For adolescents who have hearing impairment, the identity formation process has its own subtleties. Besides the conflicts which are a part of being a teenager, he/she has to form his/her identity as someone who has a hearing loss and needs a hearing aid. Taking into account the countless factors influencing the use of this resource, this study aimed to undercover the relations between self-concepts of deaf adolescents to the use of hearing aid, looking at the adolescents' own perceptions and those of his parents. The Self-concept Scale - EACIJ - and questionnaires were applied to 30 hearing impaired adolescents, aged 12-16 years, undergoing treatment at the Centro de Distúrbios da Audição, Linguagem e Visão (CEDALVI), a service center within the HRAC/USP, and to their parents. The results showed that most of the subjects involved in the study actually use their hearing aids and have positive self-concept. It was concluded that the constant use of this resource is associated with the good conditions of the self-concept and to the psycho-social support of the multi / interdisciplinary team.
self-concept; adolescence; hearing impairment; special education
