Salient Features from the Literature, with Implications for Parent-Infant Programming

This article highlights literature on parent-infant programming, with particular emphasis on the role of parents in the process. The studies in this area have demonstrated a direct and positive relationship between the gains achieved by very young children and the extent to which their parents were taught to participate in their early education. The implications of various findings from these studies for programming with hearing-impaired infants, and with their parents, are discussed. The generative role of the Federal government in stimulating research on early intervention is also described.