Investigating Teen Audism: The Development and Use of a Survey Scale to Measure Misconceptions of the Deaf Community in a Hearing High School

The intention of this study was to investigate the patterns and frequency of misconceptions that hearing high school students have towards the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HoH) community. These misconceptions about the Deaf community commonly involve false beliefs about Deaf intelligence, social norms, and political practices. In this study, a new survey scale was created specifically asking younger students for their opinions on the Deaf and HoH community. The results from the students suggest that misconceptions surrounding American Sign Language (ASL) and cochlear implant surgery are the most frequently occurring, while misconceptions about home ownership and literacy were the least common. Also, the frequency of misconceptions was mediated by the amount of prior exposure the participant had with the Deaf and HoH community. Age did not appear to play a role in mediating the amount of misconceptions participants displayed.