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Parents' decisions about speech, sign and multilingualism for their children with hearing loss
What is it about?
This study examined the influence of factors on the decision making of caregivers of children with hearing loss regarding the use of speech, the use of sign, spoken language multilingualism, and spoken language choice. Through a questionnaire, 177 caregivers of 157 Australian children with hearing loss (ages 3;5 to 9;4) rated the importance of a range of potential influences on their decision making regarding their children's communication. Overall, caregivers' decisions were influenced by their children's audiological and intervention characteristics, communication with those around them, community participation, access to intervention and education services in English, and concerns about their children's future lives. The advice of speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and specialist teachers was more important to caregivers than advice from medical practitioners and nonprofessionals.
Why is it important?
Understanding the factors that are important to caregivers in their decision making will help teachers, therapists, and doctors to better support caregivers' decision making.