Should we intervene?

An experiment was done to research early intervention and language development in children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

 The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between age of enrollment in intervention and language outcomes at five years of age in a group of deaf and hard of hearing children.

Vocabulary skills at five years of age were examined in a group of 112 children with hearing loss who were enrolled at various ages in a comprehensive intervention program. Within this program they worked on oral pronunciation skills, reading, writing, etc. In addition to that 80 children were tested on their verbal reasoning skills. Participants were evaluated using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and a criteria measurement chart. Each test was administered individually by a professionals skilled in assessing children with a hearing loss. Also, a scale was created to measure the amount of family involvement the children had with their intervention program.

Concluding the experiment was simple; there is a direct negative correlation between intervening at a later age. Interventions that took place as early as 11 months of age demonstrated significantly better vocabulary and verbal reasoning skills in comparison to the later enrolled children. High levels of family involvement correlated with positive language outcomes. However, if a child had late enrollment and lacked family involvement in the program, their scores were extremely damaged. The results suggest that success achieved when early identification is paired with early intervention that also actively involves the child's family.

This experiment is a great example of why parent's of a deaf child are concerned about intervention. Should they intervene and have their children implanted with a cochlear implant? Should they intervene and have them in a program where they practice their speech? Should they empower their child and solely rely on American Sign Language?

How parents decide to go about these questions strongly affects their child's life later on. For some people intervention is the best option but others feel strongly against forcing children to go through a program where they are forced to speak and conform to the normalities of a hearing world. Often times, if the parents are hearing and have a deaf child they may not even know about all of their options. They didn't grow up in the Deaf community and learn American Sign Language growing up. There is a whole community where their child could fit in and they are unaware of that world.

Immediately doctors will approach deafness from a medical perspective. Deafness is something that needs to be fixed and they know how to do that. They will provide parents with all of the medical options such as cochlear implants, schools with speech therapy programs, etc. Many Deaf people are angry with doctors due to them not providing information about the Deaf community or learning American Sign Language... Is that their job? Should a doctor have to provide information that has nothing to do with what they practice?

My personal reaction to all of this is that doctors should not have to provide all of that extra information on Deaf culture. If a parent has a deaf child I think that it is their responsibility to research all of the options. There is plenty of information on the internet, books, and TV that address all of the options. I would never expect a doctor to give advice against what they have learned to be a "disability," especially when Deaf culture is not their expertise. There is a reason why doctor's call it a "hearing loss." They believe that if you can not hear then that means you have lost your hearing, it has a negative connotation to it. Deaf pride is something within a person and not everyone understands what it feels like to have pride in something that others see as a loss. As Richard Masur siad, "I know Deaf people. I have discussed the issues with them. I've also thought about them a lot so I have some insights that go a little further than people who haven't had contact with the Deaf community."

-Bianca E. Stevens