Deaf Infants at Risk of Restricted Access to Reciprocal Interaction: Effects on the Frequency of Both Gestural and Vocal Communication.

• In Event: The Diversity of Caregiver-child Coordination and its Contributions to Language Development

Abstract

The development of social communicative skills during infancy paves the way for later language. These skills are hypothesised to emerge in the context of infant-parent interaction during which caregivers intuitively scaffold communicative development. Approximately 95% of deaf infants are born to hearing parents who typically have little prior deaf awareness and face challenges in scaffolding communicative development. Consequently, many deaf infants are at risk of limited access to rich interaction. This is known to be associated with delays in later language development but it is not clear whether it is also associated with delays in gestural and vocal communication during infancy. Recent research with typically hearing infants has pinpointed a set of early communicative behaviours that are positive predictors of later language. In a first study, we tested whether deaf infants at risk of reduced access to rich interaction were less likely to engage in these key predictors relative to typically-hearing peers. We coded the naturalistic communication of 8 deaf infants who had no additional needs, were not preterm or low birth weight, whose parents were hearing, monolingual English speakers, and who had spoken English as their primary target language (see table 1) and 8 typically-hearing infants matched for age in days, gender and socio-economic status. We coded for frequency of use of five types of infant communication known to positively predict later language development: show gestures, give gestures, index-finger pointing, gaze-coordinated vocalizations, and early word use (see table 2 for descriptives). We fitted two multi-level negative binomial regression models to the data, the first including all five predictors and the second restricted to only the pre-linguistic predictors (i.e., excluding early word use). For both models, hearing loss had a significant negative effect on the frequency with which infants engaged in all behaviours According to model estimates, deaf infants produced 5 fewer communicative behaviours in 25 minutes of play than their matched typically-hearing peers. Delay in the gestural domain suggests this is not simply a consequence of difficulties in imitating auditory stimuli. These findings suggest deaf infants are at significant risk of delay in the types of early communication known to be important for later language, stressing the need for early interventions to support infant-parent interaction in order to limit developmental delay. In a step towards this goal, we explored the feasibility and acceptability of using video materials to support parents in scaffolding communicative development and making communication accessible. In a second set of studies, the naturalistic play of 9 hearing parent-deaf infant dyads was coded. Behaviour change was tested using a pre- post-intervention design and the videos were found to be effective in promoting several types of parental behaviours that are understood to underpin early communicative development. On the basis of parents’ and professionals’ feedback, an improved set of videos was created. These final videos received high acceptability ratings from professionals and parents. Future work should test whether the use of such videos, alongside tailored professional support, results in better language and communication outcomes for deaf children.

Authors

• Ciara Kelly, University of Manchester
  Presenting Author

• Gary Morgan, City, University of London
  Non-Presenting Author

• Colin J. Bannard, The University of Liverpool
  Non-Presenting Author

• Danielle Elizabeth Matthews, University of Sheffield
  Non-Presenting Author