The Impact of Visual Communication on the Intersubjective Development of Early Parent-Child Interaction With 18- to 24-Month-Old Deaf Toddlers

Abstract

This article presents a study that examined the impact of visual communication on the quality of the early interaction between deaf and hearing mothers and fathers and their deaf children aged between 18 and 24 months. Three communication mode groups of parent-deaf child dyads that differed by the use of signing and visual-tactile communication strategies were involved: (a) hearing parents communicating with their deaf child in an auditory/oral way, (b) hearing parents using total communication, and (c) deaf parents using sign language. Based on Loots and colleagues' intersubjective developmental theory, parent-deaf child interaction was analyzed according to the occurrence of intersubjectivity during free play with a standard set of toys. The data analyses indicated that the use of sign language in a sequential visual way of communication enabled the deaf parents to involve their 18-to 24-month-old deaf infants in symbolic intersubjectivity, whereas hearing parents who hold on to oral-only communication were excluded from involvement in symbolic intersubjectivity with their deaf infants. Hearing parents using total communication were more similar to deaf parents, but they still differed from deaf parents in exchanging and sharing symbolic and linguistic meaning with their deaf child.Although most researchers emphasize the importance of synchrony, reciprocity, contingency, and joint involvement during parent-infant interactions, studies on early parent-deaf child interaction mostly concentrate on the individual behaviors of caregivers and/or children as the unit of analysis, rather than focusing on the dynamic quality of the interaction itself. Much research has been directed towards identifying the characteristics of hearing and deaf mothers or their deaf infants that affects the nature of their interaction, or the infants' later development, or both. Apart from some studies that used rating scales to assess the quality of the mother-deaf child dyadic unit as a whole

Communication between Children with Deafness, Blindness and Deafblindness and their Social Partners: An Intersubjective Developmental Perspective

“…As they expected, Loots et al (2005) found higher intersubjectivity levels in parents who used AAC compared with parents who used spoken language. Swanwick and Watson (2007) described similar results.…”

“…The term "intersubjectivity" was not used for the study variables in most of these studies (except for Loots, Devisé, & Jacquet, 2005;Saliés & Starosky, 2008). Although other authors did not explicitly measure "intersubjectivity", they measured variables that could be attributed to one of the layers of intersubjectivity that Trevarthen described.…”

Deaf children with cochlear implants before the age of 1 year: Comparison of preverbal communication with normally hearing children

“…For a profoundly deaf baby before cochlear implantation, this third side of the triangle of reference is not fully accessible except through vision. This means that without guidance as to where to position the object of references [26,27] it will be difficult for an adult inexperienced in sign to make their communication contingent and meaningful to the child; and it will be equally difficult for the child to integrate visual communication in parallel with visual attention to the object or event. This situation can be further complicated by the adult's attempts to engage the child: instead of following what is occupying the baby's attention and thoughts, the baby is expected to interpret what is the adult's focus of interest, which is impossible for a young infant [28].…”

Intersubjectivity Effects of the High-Quality Communication Intervention in People With Deafblindness

“…Differences in the intersubjective development of children with deafness who have hearing parents and those who have parents with deafness support the importance of social partners' adapting their communication strategies to the individual needs of a child with sensory disabilities. In a 2005 study by Loots, Devisé and Jacquet (2005), for example, the highest intersubjective quality was observed in interpersonal communication between children with deafness and parents using sign language and sequential visual interaction strategies. Parents who themselves had deafness used these types of adapted strategies more spontaneously (Jamieson, 1994).…”

“…Some children display delays in affective attunement (Jamieson, 1994;Preisler, 1995). Absence of symbolic communication has also been described for groups of people with auditory and visual impairments, as well as for children with deafblindness (Bruce, 2005;Loots, Devisé, & Jacquet, 2005).…”