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10. Concluding Thoughts
- Gallaudet University Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
Chapter 1 Letter to Parents, Survey Questionnaire, and Interview Guides Just as we have seen dramatic changes in education and technology for deaf and hard of hearing children in the past 30 years, we will likely see far-reaching changes in the coming decades. It seems certain that newborn hearing screening will indeed become universal.Already 70% of all newborns are being screened for hearing loss at birth (National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management, 2002). Perhaps the children deriving the most benefit from this change are those with a minimal hearing loss that in the past might well have gone undetected for many months. Increased use of cochlear implants is one of the most dramatic changes in the recent past, and educators can expect to see many more implanted children in the future. Improvements in computers, TTYs, video communication, real-time voice-to-print devices, and related technologies will pose new issues and opportunities for children and their families (Meadow-Orlans, 2002b). Current trends are likely to continue, perhaps with accelerating effects on the demographics of families with deaf and hard of hearing children. By 2050 the Hispanic population is expected to triple and the African American population to increase by 70%. More mothers of young children will be working outside the home, and more children will be growing up in single-parent homes if present trends continue. Educators must be prepared to serve more children from such families. Highlights of the NPP Survey Every parent and child characteristic that the NPP survey examined exhibits great variation.Although averages are reported, these do not give a complete picture.The 404 children the survey represents were born in 1989 and 1990, before the adoption of newborn hearing screening legislation . Nevertheless, the average age at which the deaf children’s hearing 178 Chapter 10 Concluding Thoughts loss was identified—14.5 months—is considerably below that of 10 years earlier. Identified at an average age of 28.6 months, hard of hearing children experienced unacceptable delays. About one third of survey children have conditions in addition to deafness —a proportion similar to that reported in Gallaudet’s annual survey for many years. However, the proportion of children identified by their parents as having behavioral problems—about 9%—is higher than the annual survey figures for this age group, suggesting that parents may be more willing than teachers to label young children. Although 60% of parents reported they were given a choice in their child’s early intervention program, 40% had no choice. In about 25% of programs, speech alone was the communication approach; sign language plus speech was used in two thirds.The remainder was divided among sign language alone, Cued Speech, and speech plus cues. Overall, parents evaluated program services very positively. However, significant differences were found for some subgroups, with hearing parents more positive than deaf or hard of hearing parents, andWhite parents more positive than Hispanic, non-White, or mixed-race parents. Two thirds of parents believed their child’s teachers had been “very helpful.” Spouses were identified as the next most helpful source of support, with medical personnel near the bottom of a considerable list. Minority families and those without a college education reported lower levels of support than White families and those with some college education. Communication Decisions Communication issues are of the utmost concern to parents:“How will we communicate with our child?”“Will she ever learn to talk?”“How will he be able to communicate with others?” Communication methods are among the first decisions parents face, and they quickly discover that professionals and other parents can have strong and sometimes conflicting opinions.Their choices are determined by their beliefs, expectations for their children,and their knowledge of deaf people.The need to speak with hearing people in the “hearing world” led many parents to choose speech as their primary communication method. Others based their decisions on Concluding Thoughts 179 their understanding of the benefits and limitations of different communication approaches. Parents also considered how well their children could hear and their progress in learning to speak.It was not always easy for parents to get clear and comprehensive information about communication methods. Some parents found books, other parents, and deaf adults more helpful than professionals.They wanted their children to be able to communicate with both hearing and deaf people and to be able to choose, as adults, the method that would be best for them. Most children used both speech and signs at...