Abstract
When children are diagnosed with hearing loss, their families begin making many decisions, including whether their children will use speech or sign, and if they are multilingual, what languages they will use with their children. Parents frequently consult with health and education professionals concerning the best communication pathway for their children and their families. This paper is a translational summary of four studies investigating the communication choices of children (n=406) with hearing loss and their parents (n=792) who were participating in the Longitudinal Outcomes of Children with Hearing Impairment (LOCHI) study in Australia. Parents reported on the factors that were influential in their decision-making about whether their children with hearing loss would communicate using speech, sign, and/or more than one spoken language. The influences parents reported included advice from professionals, children's access to speech through audition, children's intervention experiences, children's future opportunities, practicalities of communication, and creating a sense of belonging for their children.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 18-22 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |