Experiences of parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children with supporting the literacy education of their children

Abstract

The specific goal of this research was to determine how parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students describe their experiences with supporting the literacy education of their children. The research investigated the ways in which families describe the education they received about literacy development. I was able to get a broader understanding of the different techniques being provided to parents of DHH children for their literacy development and learning. This study was designed to investigate the information provided to parents about literacy learning for DHH individuals and answered the question of what preliteracy skills and strategies are being provided to parents of DHH children. A case study design was chosen in order to be able to look at multiple sources of evidence. The interviews, hearing levels, reports, and other collected data together formed a cohesive picture of initial literacy learning for DHH individuals. There are several major findings of this study. The first finding is that consistent information is not being provided to parents of DHH children. Another major finding centers on the similar literacy practices being utilized by parents of DHH individuals. An unexpected finding relates to the Newborn Hearing Screening and what parents of DHH children are being told when their child fails.