Finding an identity and social-emotional skills

Abstract

In this article the researchers present an auto-ethnographic study of the first presenter´s life. Salonen is a Deaf person who suffered severe psychological problems in his youth because of uncertainty about his identity and a lack of social-emotional skills. Syväoja is a hearing psychiatrist and she is also Salonen's mother. The purpose of this research is to discuss openly Salonen´s life. An auto-ethnographic approach allows a cross-cultural combination of socio-cultural and medical views, and the researchers, reporting their experiences from their personal perspectives, consider Salonen´s life from these two main angles: the socio-cultural (Deaf identity, Deafhood, sign language) and the medical (well-being, social-emotional functioning, mental health). Auto-ethnography as a qualitative research method includes the interconnectivity of the self and others. The data consists of personal memories, self-observation, self-reflection and external material collected in the form of interviews, diaries and other documents. The research shows how important it is for society as a whole to examine closely the personal narrative of a Deaf person and of people who have followed his life intimately. Salonen experienced severe crises in his social-emotional functioning and mental health during puberty. After much effort he succeeded in finding his identity and developing his social-emotional skills, helped in this process by a thorough understanding and awareness of sign language and Deaf culture. More detailed discussion is needed of how identity and socialemotional skills can be developed. They have the same goal – the welfare of a Deaf child.