JCPSLP Vol 21 No 2 2019 DIGITAL Edition

Measurement and evaluation in practice

An examination of home reading practices of parents of young children with a hearing loss Michelle I. Brown, Marleen F. Westerveld, David Trembath and Gail T. Gillon

Early storybook reading (ESR) offers a promising opportunity for children to learn language and social communication skills. This preliminary investigation aimed to extend knowledge of ESR with young children with a hearing loss (HL). Twelve parents with young children (birth to 3 years old) with a HL completed a questionnaire examining parents’ perceptions towards ESR and their home reading practices. Ten parents (n = 12) reported engaging in frequent ESR with their children and all of the families provided their children with access to books at home. Parents reported limited visits to the library/ bookstore. Difficulties with selecting age- appropriate books and using seating environments known to facilitate parent–child interactions were reported. These preliminary findings indicate that parents with young children with a HL engage in frequent ESR, although may benefit from further education on the importance of ESR, book selection, and using seating environments that support parent–child interactions. E arly storybook reading (ESR), also known as parent– child book reading, or shared reading, provides opportunities for learning spoken language and social communication skills through parent–child interactions (Bus, van IJzendoorn, & Pellegrini, 1995; Dickinson, Griffith, Michnick Golinkoff, & Hirsh-Pasek, 2012; Fletcher & Reese, 2005). The social constructivist theory put forward by Vygotsky (1987) and the bioecological model developed by Bronfenbrenner (1979) both highlight the necessity of parent–child interactions for the development of language and social communication skills. Parent–child interactions are thought to be the means through which children learn language and social communication skills as the parent shares their knowledge of the world and models interactions for their child (Bronfenbrenner,1979; Vygotsky, 1987). Moreover, parent–child interactions enable children to practise their current language and social communication skills and for parents to extend and reinforce these skills (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Vygotsky, 1987). The literature

examining the trajectories for language development for children with and without a HL indicates that children with a HL have poorer language (Ching et al., 2013; DesJardin et al., 2017; Netten et al., 2015) and social communication skills (Netten et al., 2015). Furthermore, this discrepancy in language scores between typically hearing (TH) children and children with a HL has been observed with children as young as 2 years of age (DesJardin et al., 2017). As children with a HL are susceptible to language and social communication difficulties, strengthening language and social communication development from an early age through parent–child interactions is crucial (Netten et al., 2015; Zaidman-Zaid & Dromi, 2007). Research with children with a HL suggests that ESR may strengthen parent–child interactions (DesJardin et al., 2014; DesJardin et al., 2017). There is, however, little known about the home reading practices and perceptions towards ESR of parents with young children with a HL (DesJardin et al., 2014; DesJardin et al., 2017; Zaidman- Zaid & Dromi, 2007). Given the potential benefits that ESR may offer for supporting parent–child interactions, with the overall aim of ameliorating language and social communication skills, further knowledge of parents’ home reading practices (such as frequency of ESR, type of books read, seating environment, etc.) and perceptions towards ESR (such as enjoyment of ESR for the parent and child) is needed. Understanding how parents engage in ESR and their perceptions towards ESR may have implications for clinicians and educators who provide ESR intervention to this population. Moreover, this information may be useful for fine tuning current ESR interventions to ensure they meet the needs of parents. Early storybook reading (ESR) with young children with a hearing loss (HL) The research investigating young children with a HL has focused on comparing young children with a HL to their TH peers. This has included comparing the prelinguistic skills of young children with and without a HL from which information about ESR has also been reported. Zaidman- Zait and Dromi (2007) compared the early language skills of children with a HL ( n = 28, M age = 16 months, range: 10 to 20 months old) who used hearing aids, with TH children ( n = 92, M age = 13 months, range: 13 to 15 months), through a parent questionnaire. One section of the questionnaire contained specific questions related to ESR

KEYWORDS BABIES AND YOUNG INFANTS EARLY STORYBOOK READING HEARING LOSS PARENT QUESTIONNAIRE PARENT–CHILD INTERACTION THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN PEER- REVIEWED

Michelle I. Brown (top) and Marleen F. Westerveld

78

JCPSLP Volume 21, Number 2 2019

Journal of Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology