Multilingual Children with Hearing Loss: Communication and choice

Through these six papers, this doctoral research has expanded current understanding of how children with hearing loss and their caregivers communicate, and what factors influence caregivers' decision-making about how their children will communicate. As a series of papers, this research provides information that will assist educators, therapists, organisations, policy-makers, and researchers in supporting families of children with hearing loss in making informed decisions about accessing audiological, educational, and habilitation services. This research also offers professionals an evidence base for considering the issues that might be influential in caregivers' decision-making, and it should help professionals to respond to caregivers' concerns in a way that supports caregivers in making informed choices for their children, their families, and themselves. Further, the findings of these papers provide researchers with points to consider when designating communication mode and/or multilingualism as either predictor or outcome variables in their research.