Neurolinguistic Programming as an interviewing technique with prelingually deaf adults
Author: Davis, Gerald L., Jr.
Year of publication: 1984
Publishing house / periodical / university: Dissertation Abstracts International 46(5), 1247-A 1248-A Oklahoma State University, 91 pp. Order = DA8515247
Abstract
Scope of Study: Hearing loss is the number one handicapping condition in the United States. The major problem faced by deaf individuals is that of communication. Prelingually deaf adults volunteered for this study and they, as a group, were either born deaf or became deaf prior to language acquisition (usually about age three). This purpose of this study was threefold in nature. First, the study centered on the investigation and reporting of data regarding leisure, social, and recreational activities and needs of prelingually deaf adults. Of major concern in this regard was the deaf individual’s educational, social, emotional, and vocational adjustment in relationship to appropriate play experiences and leisure programming activities. Second, the study focused on neurolinguistic programming (NLP), the model or tool utilized in gathering and reporting of data. This communication-based interviewing model was selected because its clinical approach offered a replicable model in addition to having sound theoretical principles. Furthermore, this interviewing method was communication oriented and focused on verbal and nonverbal forms of communication. Finally, this study investigated calibrating, mapping, and replicating strategies relative to successful, peak-performance behaviors. Eye scanning patterns were the basis for mapping particular experiences. Findings and Conclusions: Five prelingually deaf adults were interviewed regarding personal, educational, vocational, disability, and recreational experiences. Their responses were divided into content and process sections for ease of presentation and analysis of the data. NLP was the communication model utilized to interview participants. Its structure, terminology, and sound theoretical principles resulted in gathering valuable process information relative to “successful” and “unsuccessful” behaviors. Particular eye scanning patterns of subjective internal experiences regarding successful and unsuccessful behavior were calibrated, mapped, and recorded.