CHAPTER IINTRODUCTIONstructure and justification of the studyCommunication means satisfying the individual need for social, emotional and human development of man. Communication is considered a basic human need because people cannot communicate. We all need to communicate to fully develop our potential. However, this potential is hampered in the case of hearing-impaired people. They are not able to develop their full potential because their ability to understand is also impaired. They particularly need other means of communication. They need support that would help them express and communicate what they think. In short, they need to engage in communication activities that would meet and satisfy their particular needs – to understand and be understood. Hearing loss is the most common birth defect. Statistics show that approximately 3 in 1,000 babies are born with hearing loss (KidsHealth.org, n.d.). Hearing loss occurs when there is a defect in one or more parts of the ears. Furthermore, it is observed that a hearing impaired person only hears a few sounds or nothing at all. In the Philippine survey conducted by the Department of Health (DOH) and the University of the Philippines (UP) in 2003, hearing loss ranked second. disability with a percentage rate of 33%. Additionally, according to the 1997 DOH National Registry, 17%, or 97,957 out of 577,345 Filipinos, are hard of hearing (Better Hearing Philippines Inc, 2008). These figures show that a large number of Filipinos suffer from communication-related problems. Millions of them have difficulty communicating effectively with the hearing population. There are great...... middle of paper ......ing for Converse. In Spencer P., Erting C. and Marschark M. (eds.). The deaf child in the family and at school. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence ErlbaumAssociates, PublishersTardy, C. (1988). A handbook for the study of human communication: methods and instruments for observing, measuring and evaluating communication processes. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation Vrasidas, C. (2001). Interpretivism and symbolic interactionism: “Making the familiar strange and interesting again” in educational technology research. InHeinecke, W. and Willis, J. (Eds.), Research Methods in Educational Technology (pp. 81-99). Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing, Inc. Wood, Julia T. (2004). Communication theories in action. United States: Thomson Wadswoth Wozniak, Robert H. (1993) Worlds of Childhood. New York: Harper Collins College Publishers