Authors: Marilyn Sass-Lehrer, Donna Mertens, and Kathryn Meadow-Orlans

Authors: Marilyn Sass-Lehrer, Donna Mertens, and Kathryn Meadow-Orlans • To contact the author for permission to use this PowerPoint, please e-mail: marilyn.sass-lehrer@gallaudet.edu • To use this PowerPoint in its entirety, please give credit to the authors.

Experiences of Families with Young Children who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing: Implications for Professional Preparation Marilyn Sass-Lehrer, Donna M. Mertens, Kathryn Meadow-Orlans, Gallaudet University, Washington, DC Association of College Educators-Deaf and Hard of Hearing San Diego, February 2001

Families and Deaf & Hard of Hearing Children in the U.S. • Cultural Diversity • 1/3 non-White • Linguistic Diversity • 1/3 non-English • Economic Diversity • Diversely Able • 1/3 identified disability • Diverse Hearing Ability

Presentation Overview • Description of Research Project • Issues & Advice – • Hearing Parents • Deaf/HH Parents • Families with Children of Color • Families with HH Children • Families with Children with Disabilities • Implications for Preparation

Purpose of Study • To investigate the early intervention experiences and services received by families with young deaf and hard of hearing children

Research Design • National Survey • 404 Families • 6 -7 Year Old Children • Telephone Interviews • Focus Groups • Parents • Professionals

Summary of Survey • 46% Deaf 54% Hard of Hearing • 32% Other Disabilities • Hearing Loss Identified Late • Early Intervention 1 year after ID • Evaluation of Services Positive

Interviews • Families with Hard of Hearing Children • Families with Deaf Parents • Families with Children with Disabilities • Families with Children with Cochlear Implants • Families of Color

Interview Areas • Discovery of Hearing Loss • Early Intervention Services • Decision Making Process • Parents’ Concerns • Service Satisfaction • Advice for Professionals • Advice for Other Parents

Hearing Parents’ Issues • Do not suspect hearing loss • Assume behavioral or language delay • Concerns dismissed • Information incomplete or biased • Decisions

Advice for ProfessionalsHearing Parents • Listen to us! • Respect us • Be knowledgeable • Be honest • Tell us everything

I think a lot of professionals forget when they’re working with families to treat them as though they’re a family….not just another face. You know, really listen to what the parents are saying…the teachers have college training, but a parent really knows their child…They know better what works for their child than a teacher does from reading it in a book.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Parents • Deaf/HH Parents • 10% Deaf Mothers • 11% Deaf Fathers • 5.5% Only 1 Parent - D/HH • 7.5% Both D/HH • 47 Parents with 1 or both D/HH • 26 Parents both parents D/HH

Children of Deaf Parents • Hearing Loss Identified Earlier • More Deaf Children • Fewer Hard of Hearing Children • Fewer Children with Multiple Disabilities • Differences in Service Participation • Differences in Evaluation of Services

Deaf Parents’ Concerns • Education • Challenging • Age-Appropriate • Emphasize Reading • Social Experiences • Deaf Peers • Deaf Role Models • Opportunities • Communication • Hearing & Deaf • Interpreters

Advice for ProfessionalsDeaf Parents • Listen to us! • Respect our opinions • Involve us in decision making • Improve sign language • Raise expectations of deaf children

Advice for ProfessionalsDeaf Parents “I think a lot of the problem is that the hearing professionals….that work with deaf infants are not proficient in sign. So, many of us…have interpreters because these people really can’t sign fluently.”

Advice for Professionals Deaf Parents “I haven’t seen the deaf parents complain about that, they’re usually very tolerant because they do get such good services from them for their children,which is what they are there for…but I think there would be a better relationship between them if they were more proficient in sign.”

Special Concerns of Parents with Hard of Hearing Children • Social Development • Speech and Language Development • Hearing Aids • Cognitive Development • Placement and Appropriate Services • Changes in Hearing Abilities

Advice for Professionals: Parents with Hard of Hearing Children • Respect Our Feelings • Listen to Us • Give Options & Appropriate Referrals • Communicate Better • Provide Support Groups

Well, they definitely have to be sensitive to the parents who are emotional, like myself. I balled like a baby for the first week. I was calling them constantly and they were reassuring me. They have to be sensitive because it’s a traumatic thing for the parent. I was like traumatized, because I didn’t know what I was headed for in the future…. [Survey 76]

Concerns of Families with Children who have Disabilities • Communication • How will we communicate? • How will my child communicate with others? • Acceptance • Will my child be accepted? • Appropriate Programs • Behavior • Will my child’s behavior improve?

Advice for ProfessionalsParents with Children with Disabilities • Respect Us and Our Children • Be Knowledgeable • Tell Us Everything • Be Honest and Direct • Listen to Us

Hmm…nobody ever asked me that before. I can tell you what I didn’t like and then maybe you can extrapolate from there. I didn’t like being petted on the head and given sort of pat, rote answersto problems and issues that I was dealing with. …you get the impression that social workers and people in the business sort of refer to parents as in the third person as though I was sort of childlike, like my child was.

And if I had just been given credit for being a reasonably intelligent person who was interested in begin involved and aggressive in helping my child, I would’ve appreciated that.

I also would have appreciated as much facts, as many facts as were available. Because a lot of times when you have a child who is very ill, or has an uncertain future, the medical profession is hesitant to just tell you what they’re thinking. And so you end up worrying abut things you don’t even have to worry about.

Concerns of Families of Color • Communication • Acceptance • Fair Treatment • Opportunities

Advice for Professionals from Families of Color • Develop Positive Relationship with Parents • Trust • Listen to Us • Don’t dismiss our concerns • Tell us Everything • Explain • Keep us Informed • Use different ways to share information • Involve Us • Don’t Intimidate Us

Don’t try to intimidate us when we come around. Cause there are some teachers who hate for the parents to come around and be involved. They want to do their thing in private…don’t try to tell me to leave. I want to be comfortable with who I am leaving my child with, and if I don’t feel comfortable, he will not stay with you. It’s that simple. I’m not going to force him to stay with you, you’re a stranger.

Common Areas of Concern for Families with Deaf & HH Children • Services for their Children • Getting Information • Resources • Communication Decisions • Technology Decisions • Placement Decisions

Implications for Training • Professionals Doing a Good Job • Areas for Improvement • Information Sharing • Family Involvement • Appropriate Services • Better Services Needed for: • Deaf Parents • Children who are Hard of Hearing • Children with Disabilities • Children & Families of Color

Publications • Support services for parents and their children who are deaf and hard of hearing: A National Survey. American Annals of the Deaf, 142 , 278-293. (1997). • Children who are Hard of Hearing: Are they Forgotten? Perspectives in Education and Deafness.16, (3), 6-8,24. (1998). • Sensitivity in the family-professional relationship: Parental experiences in families with young deaf and hard of hearing children. In Spencer, Erting & Marschark. The Deaf Child in the Family and at School. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Associates. (2000).

Future Publication • Deafness, Education and Young Children: Parents Views (In preparation). Meadow-Orlans, Mertens, & Sass-Lehrer. Gallaudet Press: Washington, DC

AcknowledgementsThis research has been supported by funding from the Gallaudet Research Institute. We are grateful to the parents and to the program personnel who have made this research possible.

Authors: Marilyn Sass-Lehrer, Donna Mertens, and Kathryn Meadow-Orlans