2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
3/10/2025 | 2:25 PM - 2:55 PM | The Mind’s Eye: Understanding the Theory of Mind and its Impact on Socialization | 320
The Mind’s Eye: Understanding the Theory of Mind and its Impact on Socialization
The delay in acquiring ToM is caused by a lack of access to language, not by any fundamental cognitive problems. As young children mature, they develop an understanding of themselves and other people as psychological beings who think, know, want, feel, and believe. They come to understand that what they think or believe may be different from what another person thinks and believes. They also learn that much of our behavior is motivated or caused by our knowledge and beliefs. Deaf children who acquire language early are significantly better at reasoning about mental states than language-delayed deaf children. Because of delayed language skills and fewer opportunities for incidental learning, social skills don’t just happen for students who are deaf and hard of hearing. Even mild or temporary hearing loss can delay the development of social skills. The presenter’s daughter is now a young adult hitting the professional world, personal accounts of socialization successes and struggles are included in this session.
- Attendees will gain a better understanding of what theory of mind is.
- Attendees will learn how a deafness and hearing loss impact the development of theory of mind.
- Attendees will learn what socialization challenges are faced by children who are DHH
Presentation:
3545975_18058AndreaMarwah.pdf
Handouts:
Handout is not Available
Transcripts:
CART transcripts are NOT YET available, but will be posted shortly after the conference
Presenters/Authors
Andrea Marwah
(POC,Primary Presenter), IL Hands & Voices Guide By Your Side, executivedirector@ilhandsandvoices.com;
Andrea Marwah received her BA degree in Psychology from North Central College. Since her daughter was diagnosed with hearing loss in 2002, she has taken a special interest in educating parents and professionals on matters concerning ADA, IDEA - special education rights, and advocacy for students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing or DeafBlind. Andrea presents both locally and nationally on advocacy and IDEA; deafness with other disabilities; impact of deafness; socialization and many other topics surrounding parenting and working with children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing. She works for the Illinois School for the Deaf as an outreach trainer/consultant for families and professionals who work with children who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, low vision or deaf-blind. She is also a parent advocate supporting families in Illinois at their child’s IEP meeting or behind the scenes preparing them to attend the meeting and advocate themselves. Andrea is the Executive Director at Illinois Hands & Voices and has been a leader with them since 2010 and is a national trainer for the Hands & Voices ASTra Training Program and a member of the Hands & Voices speakers bureau. She works closely with Designated Service Coordinators providing group training and individual consulting. These are trained individuals who work directly with infants and toddlers in Illinois birth to three who have a diagnosis involving vision, hearing or a combination of both in her state early intervention program. Andrea works as a liaison with the Early Intervention Training Program on issues surrounding deafness and hearing loss. She sits on numerous committees both locally and nationally. Andrea also served for six years on the Advisory Commission on Disabilities in her hometown of Naperville, where she lives with her husband Ajay and children Samantha, Julia and Andrew.
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.