2026 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 15-17, 2026 • Jacksonville, FL
| Language and Literacy Development in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children: An Ecological Systems Perspective
Language and Literacy Development in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children: An Ecological Systems Perspective
This poster provides conference attendees from diverse disciplines and backgrounds a framework for considering language and literacy from an ecological systems perspective. The larger aim is to spur innovation in research and practice that builds bridges among the various stakeholders involved in deaf education and research that impacts DHH children and their families.
The challenges many deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children face developing language and literacy skills are multi-factored (e.g., presence of intellectual or developmental disabilities, availability of appropriate educational settings) and intersectional (e.g., families’ access to healthcare and intervention services, economic stability. The complexity of the challenges requires a wholistic and interdisciplinary approach to promoting successful outcomes.
Families vary in terms of who makes major decisions in the family, serves as the primary caregiver, etc. Cultural views of disability can also play a role in how families view their DHH child’s capabilities and views on parents’ role in children’s development and education. DHH children experience various home environments (e.g., number of siblings, housing arrangements), diverse audiologic profiles (e.g., age at diagnosis, age at cochlear implant or hearing aid fitting), language use (e.g., uni- or multi-modal, multi-lingual) and educational needs (e.g., use of visual and/or auditory-based supports, interpreters). DHH children and families interact with numerous professionals, oftentimes from different disciplines (deaf education, speech-language pathology, audiology) and in different roles (teachers of the deaf, general education, speech-language pathologists, Deaf mentors). Families navigate multiple systems (e.g., medical, educational) that tend to approach the language and developmental needs of a DHH children differently (i.e., whole child versus medical/deficit model). By applying an ecological perspective on language and literacy development, we can build bridges across disciplines and settings, develop and maintain partnerships in research and practice, and develop innovative interventions and practices for improving language and literacy development.
- Describe the value of an Ecological Systems approach to considering language and literacy development in DHH children.
- Describe elements of DHH children’s most proximal ecosystem, the home and school environment, that positively influence language and literacy outcomes in DHH children.
- Describe the ecological systems that are more distal to DHH children (i.e., meso-, exo-, and macro-systems) and how they might impact language and literacy outcomes.
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Presenters/Authors
Carrie Davenport
(Primary Presenter,Author), Building Bridges Consulting, LLC, carrietdavenport@gmail.com;
Carrie Davenport, Ph.D. is the founder of Building Bridges Consulting, LLC, a company focuses on projects that create connections across fields, disciplines, and the people that touch the lives of children who are deaf/hard-of-hearing (D/HH) and their families. Prior, she was a postdoctoral research scholar in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at the Wexner Medical Center. She has a doctorate in Special Education from The Ohio State University and master’s degree in Family-Centered Early Education from Gallaudet University. She completed the Educational Consultant Training Program in cochlear implants at the California Ear Institute. She was a teacher of the deaf in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and the Early Childhood Consultant for the Center for Outreach Services at the Ohio School for the Deaf. She co-founded Ohio Hands & Voices and a statewide community collaborative, Children’s Hearing and Language Development Resource Network [CHLDRN] of Ohio. Her research centers on early parent-child interaction and language development in deaf/hard-of-hearing children and parental self-efficacy. She is particularly interested in using a community-based participatory research approach to addressing the needs of D/HH children and their families.Currently, she is adjunct faculty in the Early Intervention Services program at Gallaudet University.
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.
Elaine Smolen
(Co-Author), Teachers College, Columbia University, es3519@tc.columbia.edu;
Elaine Smolen, PhD, CED, LSLS Cert. AVEd, is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Special Education: Deaf and Hard of Hearing program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research work centers around language and literacy development for young deaf and hard of hearing children who use listening and spoken language. Smolen received her PhD in deaf and hard of hearing education from Columbia as a National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities scholar. An experienced teacher of the deaf and certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, Smolen has served young children with hearing loss and their families as a head classroom teacher and in an itinerant role. She is proud to be hard of hearing.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
• Receives Salary for Employment from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Financial relationship with Teachers College, Columbia University.
Nature: salary.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Derek Houston
(Co-Author), University of Connecticut, derek.houston@uconn.edu;
Derek M. Houston, PhD, received his doctorate in cognitive psychology from Johns Hopkins University in 2000, focusing on how typically developing infants segment words from fluent speech and recognize words across different talkers. After graduating, he constructed the world's first laboratory to investigate the speech perception and language skills of deaf infants who receive cochlear implants at Indiana University. Since then, his work (supported by NIDCD) has investigated the role of early auditory experience and parent-child interactions on cognitive, linguistic, and social building blocks of language development. He also engages in community-based participatory research aimed at addressing barriers families face in obtaining high-quality early intervention services for their children.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
AAA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -