“…Parental communication appears to be a more significant predictor than parental involvement in education for positive language and academic development in deaf children (Calderon, 2000). The implication of these protective factors is that language deprivation may be partially responsible for health disparities experienced by deaf people – which is a growing concern in the field of health literacy and knowledge connected with language skills (Barnett, McKee, Smith, & Pearson, 2011; McKee, Barnett, Block, & Pearson, 2011; McKee & Paasche-Orlow, 2012; McKee et al, 2015; Smith, Kushalnagar, & Hauser, 2015). …”