The content validity of the Parental Strengths and Needs Inventory (PSNI) for evaluating the child-rearing performance of deaf adults was assessed by replicating and extending an earlier cross-sectional descriptive study. Three types of subjects—deaf parents, hearing offspring, and hearing grandparents—provided the research data. The interview responses of 15 parent-child dyads were triangulated with grandparent questionnaire responses to identify parental issues not tapped by the closed-ended PSNI format. The content validity of the PSNI in its present form was found to be inadequate for assessing the strengths and needs of deaf parents. Recommendations for modifying the PSNI for use with deaf parents of hearing children are advanced.
We studied intergenerational modes used in fifteen family triads: hearing child, deaf parent, hearing grandparent. We videotaped semi-structured interviews of deaf parents and eldest hearing children, and surveyed grandparents by mail. All the parents were deaf from early childhood, and all but one had attended residential school. We found they used different modes in communicating with family members. Preferred mode with spouse was American Sign Language, but they switched to English-based modes with their hearing parents and offspring. Grandparents’ and hearing offsprings’ communication modes did not match those used by the parents in these families. The former relied on note-writing along with speech or used hearing grandchildren to mediate communication. Offspring used a generic form of sign with their deaf parents; their signing skill appeared to be related to both age and birth order. Deaf parents’ frequent use of signed, spoken, and written English is discussed with reference to literacy in the deaf community. Our findings raise questions about the effect of mismatched language modes on intergenerational relationships in deaf-parented families.
Visual language mediation by hearing offspring was studied in deaf-parented families as part of a larger program of cross-sectional descriptive research into aspects of deaf parents’ child rearing performance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 profoundly deaf adults and the oldest hearing school-aged offspring in the home. All parents were fluent signers, deaf from early childhood. Interview videotapes were transcribed and spontaneous utterances categorized by theme. Results indicated that visual language mediation by the oldest hearing child in the home was welcomed and encouraged in all but one family. Frequency of language mediation tasks increased with age and signing competence of offspring. Language–mediation situations were considered in terms of participants, content, and mediation strategy. Parent and child views of the “interpreter” role raised issues related to offspring’s language–mediation responsibilities and perceived parental dependence. Implications for professionals serving deaf–parented families are offered. Elements of the language–mediation event are schematized to facilitate future causal–comparative study.
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