17th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 18-20, 2018 • Denver, CO
3/20/2018 | 11:35 AM - 12:00 PM | Parental Communication Competence and Early Intervention | Mineral D/E
Parental Communication Competence and Early Intervention
Communication begins the moment a child is born. The first communication partners are generally the infant and the mother (Locke 1993). Very early communication, such as responding to crying, eye contact, and cooing leads to a healthy caregiver-child attachment and the growth of communication competence. As caregivers comfort and calm their infant, they become more confident in their skills and ability to understand the needs that the child is communicating. Through this, they build their confidence and competence.
But what happens when this natural cycle is interrupted by a hearing loss, when a child cannot understand the comfort given by a parent’s spoken words? What is the impact on parent-child attachment? How do parents learn to communicate, soothe and bond with their child? How can parents be empowered to grow their child’s language so that the child can reach his or her full potential?
Parents of infants with hearing loss are in a particularly unique situation. They are faced with being the primary language model for children with whom they have limited skills to communicate. Language outcomes for these children are significantly tied to the family’s ability to freely and fluently communicate. In this session, I will discuss the information obtained from interviews with 23 families of children with hearing loss. These families used varying communication modalities, were of diverse ages, and levels of hearing loss. The families were asked to reflect on their own experiences with learning to communicate with their child with hearing loss and how professionals influenced their communication competence.
- Participants will examine themes in the responses of 23 parents of children with hearing loss to a survey about their feelings about the early days after diagnosis, their early services and their competence in communication.
- Participants will assess the factors which parents identified as helping them become competent communicators with their children with hearing loss.
- Participants will examine the role of the early interventionist, specific strategies and education, and family support in building parental confidence in their communication skills.
Presentation:
15805_7787MelissaJensen.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
15805_7787MelissaJensen.docx
Presenters/Authors
Melissa Jensen
(), Presbyterian Ear Institute, melissa.stone.jensen@gmail.com;
Melissa Jensen, EdD CED LSLS Cert. AV Ed. is a Deaf Educator and currently serves as the Director of Early Learning at Presbyterian Ear Institute. She received her undergraduate degree in Deaf Education, her Master’s Degree in Early Intervention in Deaf Education and her Doctorate in Education, all from Fontbonne University in St. Louis, MO. She is a Listening and Spoken Language Specialist Certified Auditory-Verbal Educator (LSLS Cert. AVEd), a credentialed Early Intervention Specialist (Developmental Therapist, Hearing), and a certified Teacher of the Deaf in Illinois, Missouri, and Texas. She is also the parent of an adult daughter with bilateral cochlear implants.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.