2024 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 17-19, 2024 • Denver, CO
| Decision-Making Factors of Caregivers When Choosing an Oral-Only Communication Modality in Children with Hearing Loss
Decision-Making Factors of Caregivers When Choosing an Oral-Only Communication Modality in Children with Hearing Loss
More than 90% of Deaf or Hard of Hearing children are born to hearing parents. Since the Early Hearing Detection and Identification Act of 2010, more than 95% of infants in the United States undergo a universal newborn hearing screening. Infants who do not pass the screening are on track to be identified at three months and receive intervention strategies by six months of age. Caregivers are coping with this same timeline to make decisions about the communication modalities for their children that could impact them for a lifetime. Families can often be conflicted on what is best for their family and child with differing recommendations from various professionals. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the parent journey as it relates to key moments, the grief cycle as they process the diagnosis, the importance of family support, encounters with various professionals on their child’s team, and acceptance. This presentation will share the findings from research that included interviews conducted with caregivers of children who chose an oral-only communication modality, and those who made the decision to no longer use a signed language. These interviews explored the parents’ journeys, starting from the universal newborn hearing screening and extending to the factors that influenced their decision to choose an oral-only communication approach. Recommendations for more inclusive counseling based on these findings will also be presented.
- The participant will be able to describe the parent/caregiver journey from the identification of hearing loss to school age.
- The participant will be able to identify the factors that contribute to the decisions that led caregivers of DHH children to choose an oral-only communication modality.
- The participant will be able to discuss counseling recommendations for professionals involved with DHH children.
Presentation:
3478265_16269KaseyCain.pdf
Handouts:
3478265_16269KaseyCain.pdf
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Kasey Cain
(Primary Presenter,Author), California State University, Sacramento, kaseycain@csus.edu;
Kasey Cain is a Doctor of Audiology student at CSUS, the current Board President of California Hands & Voices, and a mother of a DHH child.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
• Has a Personal,Professional (I am a mother of a DHH child.) (I am on the board of directors. )
relationship for Board membership.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with .
Nature: .
Nonfinancial -
Non-Financial relationship with .
Nature: .
Laura Gaeta
(Co-Author), California State University, Sacramento, l.gaeta@csus.edu;
Laura Gaeta, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders at California State University, Sacramento.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exists.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.