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Abstract

Ninety percent of deaf children are born to hearing parents who have little experience of deafness and may need support with adapting their communication. Despite early identification and the provision of audiological amplification, delays in language skills in deaf children continue to exist. Good quality parental interaction is a key predictor for the successful development of language.

As parent-child interaction (PCI) is important, it is necessary to have tools to assess it. Each parent and child are different; time spent assessing their individual characteristics is important for target setting and tailoring intervention. A deaf-specific assessment tool to observe PCI is yet to be developed. This three-phase doctorate addresses this by developing the core content of a new assessment by synthesising research, practice, and parent preferences.

Aim:
To develop the core content of a deaf-specific assessment tool for practitioners and parents to use when observing PCI with deaf children aged 0-3.

Methods:
1. A systematic review (SR) to identify which parent behaviours are assessed, how they are assessed and which are associated with deaf children’s language scores.
2. National survey and follow-up, explanatory focus groups to understand professional practice in the assessment of PCI.
3. An international e-Delphi study using results from (1) and (2) to gain consensus on the core content of the EPID tool

Results:
Though methods of assessment are different between researchers and practitioners, both tend to assess the following parental skills: attention getting, joint engagement, parental sensitivity, and how a parent provides access to, and enriches language. The e-Delphi gained consensus on 36 parent behaviours that are now the core content of the EPID tool (Early Parent Interaction with Deaf children) and 22 recommendations on how to use the EPID with parents.

Conclusions:
This doctorate synthesised the parent behaviours that are assessed in research and in practice, and how these behaviours are assessed. The findings of these investigations have led to the creation of the core content and recommended approach of a novel PCI assessment for families with deaf children aged 0-3 years.

Patient and public involvement:
The involvement of parents of deaf children and hearing and deaf professionals working with families was embedded throughout. This meant that the core role that parents play in their deaf child’s development was centred, as was parent voice, and parent wellbeing. The language used within the tool and the tool’s functionality will be co-produced with parents of deaf children.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General)
Departments:	School of Health & Medical Sciences > Language & Communication Science School of Health & Medical Sciences > School of Health & Medical Sciences Doctoral Theses Doctoral Theses

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