JCPSLP Vol 21 No 2 2019 DIGITAL Edition

Present study The present study aimed to build upon previous research examining ESR with young children with a HL by investigating a wider range of home reading practices and further exploring parents’ perceptions towards ESR. Furthermore, the present study aimed to include young children (from less than 3 months of age) with a HL as well as children who used different types of hearing intervention (such as cochlear implants, hearing aids, and bone conductors). Methodology Participants Twelve parents of children with a HL participated in the present study. Inclusion criteria included being a parent/ guardian to a child with a HL aged 0 to 3 years. Children with diagnoses additional to HL were included in the study in order to obtain a clinically representative sample. Parents who were unable to complete the questionnaire without the aid of an interpreter were excluded. As depicted in table 1, 11 mothers and one father participated. The participants came from suburban Sydney and identified their ancestry as Australian (69%), Asian (23%), and European (8%). Seven of the 12 participants spoke languages in addition to English (i.e., Arabic, Auslan, Italian, and Tamil). One parent was 20 to 25 years old, four parents were 26 to 30 years old, three parents were 31 to 35 years old, two parents were 36 to 40 years old, and two parents reported that they were older than 40 years old. Seven parents held a university degree, four had attained a diploma/certificate, and one had completed their high school certificate. The children were aged from less than 3 months to 3 years of age with equal numbers of males and females. Severity of HL (presented in table 2), ranged from mild to profound. Auditory intervention (see table 2) consisted of unilateral cochlear implant (CI) bilateral CIs, bilateral hearing aids (HA), and mini bone conductor. Two parents reported that their children had additional diagnoses (trisomy 21 and diastrophic dysplasia). Materials A questionnaire (see Appendix) that was implemented with TH children (Brown et al., 2017) was used for the present study, as it was designed to examine similar research questions and had been adapted from previous parent– child book reading questionnaires including the Early Literacy Parent Questionnaire (Boudreau, 2005), a storybook exposure questionnaire (Sénéchal, LeFevre, Thomas & Daley, 1998) and the Children’s Title Checklist (Sénéchal et al., 1996). The questionnaire comprised five sections: (a) background information, (b) parents’ perceptions towards ESR, (c) frequency of ESR, (d) book selection, and (e) reading and seating environment. There were 46 questions in total. Open responses, check boxes, and Likert scale questions were provided. A “prefer not to answer” option was also available. Within the book selection section was a booklist that consisted of nine age-appropriate and recommended books, four chapter books recommended for primary school children, and seven foils (books titles that were made up by the investigator). The recommended books were chosen from library and bookstore displays and articles from newspapers and magazines. The parents were informed that some of the books were foils and were asked to identify books they had read with their children. For further details regarding the structure of the questionnaire please see Brown et al. (2017).

and parent–child interactions, including the children’s non-verbal and verbal interactions, parent–child joint attention (triadic interaction between the parent, child, and book), and gestures used by the children while sharing the story. The results revealed that parents with children with a HL reported engaging in significantly less parent–child joint attention (triadic interaction) during ESR compared with parents with TH children. Given the importance placed on parent–child interactions (such as parent–child joint attention) for language and social communication learning by the social constructivist theory (Vygotsky, 1987) and bioecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 1979), these results suggest that parents with children with a HL may require education on how to facilitate parent–child joint attention (triadic interaction) while engaging in ESR. This is especially important for parents with children with a HL as their children are susceptible to language and social communication difficulties (Netten et al., 2015). While Zaidman-Zait and Dromi (2007) investigated some aspects of parent–child interactions with children with a HL, further information is needed about other factors that are known to influence the quality of parent–child interactions such as enjoyment of ESR for children as well as parents, and the frequency of ESR, to gain a more comprehensive understanding of ESR with young children (Bus et al.,1995; Dickinson et al., 2012; Fletcher & Reese, 2005; Sénéchal, LeFevre, Hudson, & Lawson, 1996). DesJardin et al. (2017) also investigated aspects of ESR with young children with and without a HL. Using a parent questionnaire, DesJardin et al. (2017) compared the frequency of ESR, amount of time spent reading, and parents’ perceptions of their children’s enjoyment of ESR between parents with children with a HL ( n = 17, M age = 14 months, range: 11 to 16 months) and parents with TH children ( n = 34, M age = 13 months, range: 10 to 19 months). All of the children with a HL used hearing aids and were diagnosed with a mild-to-severe bilateral HL. The results indicated that both parents with TH children and children with a HL reported a similar frequency of ESR, read with their children for similar amounts of time, and reported similar perceptions regarding their children’s enjoyment of ESR. These findings are positive and suggest that parents with children (aged 11 to 16 months) with a HL who have a mild-to-severe HL and wear hearing aids may have similar home reading practices and perceptions towards ESR as parents with similarly aged TH children. Examining the home reading practices and perceptions towards ESR of parents with young children with profound HL, as well as children who use different types of hearing intervention (such as cochlear implants or bone conductors), would extend upon the present findings by capturing a more clinically representative sample of children with a HL. Moreover, further information is now needed on other important aspects of ESR with young children with a HL, including the age that parents commence ESR, the type of books provided, the number of children’s books within the family home, the seating environment (also referred to as seating position), and visits to libraries/bookstores. As these aspects of ESR are known to influence parent–child interactions and the quality of ESR, further investigation is needed (Bus et al., 1995; Dickinson et al., 2012; Fletcher & Reese, 2005; Sénéchal et al., 1996). Including younger children (from birth) would also mirror the research investigating ESR with TH children (Brown, Westerveld, & Gillon, 2017) and enable a more comprehensive view of the home reading practices and perceptions towards ESR of parents with young children with a HL.

David Trembath (top) and Gail T. Gillon

79

JCPSLP Volume 21, Number 2 2019

www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au