Abstract

Deaf students entering six postsecondary programs (N = 441) were surveyed to identify their recreational reading habits and preferences. Responses showed that deaf students read books (median = 10.0/year), magazines (median = 4.1/month), and newspapers (median = 6.4/week) consistently. Book length and novel-movie pairings influenced reading popularity. Gender exerted a major influence on reading preferences. The type of secondary school program attended was related to magazine and book reading frequencies. Students with more residual hearing showed a slight tendency to read books at higher reading levels. Hearing loss and socioeconomic status were not correlated with reading frequency, which was unexpected because these demographic variables are strongly correlated with reading achievement. It is concluded that recreational reading is relatively independent of reading achievement and merits further study.

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