Parent Training and Communication Empowerment of Children With Cochlear Implant

Abstract

Deaf children with cochlear implants (CIs) need a supportive family environment to facilitate language development. The present study was designed to assess the effects of parent training (PT) on enhancing children’s communication development. The PT was based on the “It Takes Two to Talk” model, with specific adaptations for families of deaf children. Before and after the PT, 14 participating families and matched no-treatment controls were assessed using the Parent Stress Index and Cole’s interaction checklist. The children’s language was assessed with the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventory and, after 3 years, with the Boston Naming, the Peabody, and the Test for Reception of Grammar–Version 2 (TROG-2). The families’ quality of interaction and the children’s language increased significantly more in the trained group than in controls and differences were still present after 3 years. The parents seemed to benefit from PT that focused on strategies to empower and promote communication skills in children with CIs.

Assessing Parent Behaviours in Parent–Child Interactions with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infants Aged 0–3 Years: A Systematic Review

“…As such, for this section, we will not report on correlations found in DesJardin [ 42 ] (2006) or Quittner et al [ 14 , 76 ], as parents’ communication was solely analysed in terms of their verbal input, despite other outcomes in their papers looking at features beyond spoken language (attention-getting behaviours and parental sensitivity, respectively). Therefore, only two papers [ 13 , 34 ] were included in this subsection. Both studies involved parents receiving training in PCI and both assessed deaf children’s pre-linguistic skills (i.e., pointing, co-ordinated joint engagement and gestures using the MacArthur Bates CDI Words and Gestures Form [ 97 ] or the Communication and Symbolic Behaviour Scale Behaviour Sample [ 99 ]…”

“…In the study from Nicastri et al [ 13 ], parents received nine whole-group sessions and three individual sessions of training over 10.5 months. The intervention was based on the ‘It Takes Two to Talk’ Hanen program [ 100 ] and involved video modelling, where parents had opportunities to put their training into practice at home.…”

“…Longer periods of joint engagement, increased parental sensitivity and a range of facilitative language techniques were all correlated with higher levels of language in deaf children. Parents with higher rates of maternal sensitivity and language stimulation have a greater effect on their child’s expressive language scores over time [ 13 , 64 ]. This finding is echoed in a systematic review by Holzinger et al [ 104 ] where a meta-analysis of four longitudinal studies found that parental linguistic input explained 31.7% of the variance in deaf children’s expressive language scores.…”

“…Despite earlier identification and advancements in hearing aid and cochlear implant technology, delays in receptive and expressive language skills in deaf children continue to exist [ 9 , 10 ]. Many studies have found the quantity and quality of parental interaction to be one of the main predictors of deaf children’s language outcomes [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 ]. Parents who have not yet developed skills in effectively communicating with their deaf child may provide lower-quality language input [ 16 ], which in turn affects the child’s language development.…”

“…In wider research, the impact of parent-implemented interventions on at-risk children within hearing populations is well documented in Autism Spectrum Disorders [ 29 ], Developmental Language Disorder [ 30 ], stuttering [ 31 ] and in families with low socio-economic status [ 32 ]. There has been less research on the effect of PCI interventions in deafness, with some studies suggesting that parents who received intervention had deaf children with better communication and/or language skills [ 13 , 33 , 34 ].…”