Brenda T. Poon

Social Support for Parents of Deaf Children: Moving Toward Contextualized Understanding

In light of claims that social support needs to be defined within specific context, we conducted a metasynthesis to identify ways that social support has been studied and contextualized in research focused on hearing parents of children with hearing loss. A literature search of published articles was conducted to identify research studies related to support and hearing parents of children with hearing loss. Our search yielded 108 items from Psycinfo and 154 items from Web of Science; 26 studies met our inclusion criteria. Our analyses involved summary and integration of information regarding research methods, guiding theoretical frameworks, and findings in relation to diverse support contexts. We found that it is the multidimensionality of social support and its specific functions, individually and in combination, that are particularly relevant in informing family-centered service provision. Further understanding of the multidimensional and dynamic nature of support could occur through investigation of diverse functions of support within and across ecological contexts. Findings from this study contributed to a descriptive framework that can be used to explore the multidimensionality of support; facilitate use of methods that assess specific support functions; and also inform the development of interventions that are responsive and match the needs of parents.

The Transition From Early Intervention to School for Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Administrator Perspectives

Although the transition from early intervention (EI) to school is a significant milestone in the lives of young children, little research to date has investigated this transition among children who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH). The aims of this study were to investigate the organizational policies, procedures, and guidelines that facilitate or hinder the transition from the EI system to the school system for children who are D/HH from the perspective of program administrators. Using the Enhanced Critical Incident Technique methodology, 146 incidents were extracted from 10 interviews and sorted into 10 helping, 9 hindering, and 5 wish list categories. Findings are consistent with the Ecological and Dynamic Model of Transition (Rimm-Kaufman & Pianta, 2000), which conceptualizes the transition to school as being influenced by the pattern of interactions between the individuals, groups, and institutions connected to the child.

Learning and interacting in noisy classrooms: what background noise measures and subjective teacher perceptions tell us about the challenges for students who are hard of hearing

The negative impact of noisy classrooms can impede academic performance for even typically hearing children. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the impact of noisy classrooms on the social and academic experiences of deaf and hard-of-hearing students, who are increasingly educated alongside their hearing peers. First, background noise levels were measured in 11 kindergarten-Grade 7 classrooms in which children with hearing loss were placed, during the first 1½ hours of one school day. Based on the ongoing activities and background noise levels, predictions were made as to when the children would likely experience the most and least adverse listening conditions. Second, teachers were interviewed to obtain their perspectives of the learning and socialization experiences of the children with hearing loss. Overall, there was striking consistency between the predicted difficulties based on objective acoustic measures and perceived difficulties based on teachers’ subjective perspectives. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed the following major themes concerning the students with hearing loss: difficulty hearing instruction; missing out on social communication with peers; and difficulty recognizing and managing transitions. Overall, these findings suggest that background noise in elementary school classrooms negatively impacts listening, learning, and social interaction for students with hearing loss.The negative impact of noisy classrooms can impede academic performance for even typically hearing children. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the impact of noisy classrooms on the social and academic experiences of deaf and hard-of-hearing students, who are increasingly educated alongside their hearing peers. First, background noise levels were measured in 11 kindergarten-Grade 7 classrooms in which children with hearing loss were placed, during the first 1½ hours of one school day. Based on the ongoing activities and background noise levels, predictions were made as to when the children would likely experience the most and least adverse listening conditions. Second, teachers were interviewed to obtain their perspectives of the learning and socialization experiences of the children with hearing loss. Overall, there was striking consistency between the predicted difficulties based on objective acoustic measures and perceived difficulties based on teachers’ subjective perspectives. T...

Can Routinely Collected Early Intervention Data for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children Be Used for Outcome Monitoring? A Case Example from British Columbia, Canada.

Population-based outcome monitoring could provide useful information about factors that differentially influence the developmental trajectories of deaf or hard-of-hearing children. A strong basis for population-based outcome monitoring is a coordinated, longitudinal data collection, and management infrastructure that includes quality local indicators, which in turn contribute to a larger state/province or national data infrastructure that supports programme evaluation and policymaking. Quality routinely collected data from early intervention programmes would contribute critical information to a coordinated database infrastructure for monitoring outcomes of children with hearing loss. The present paper explores, through a case example of a specialized early intervention programme for deaf or hard-of-hearing children in British Columbia, Canada, the strengths and limitations of utilizing routinely collected early intervention data for outcome monitoring purposes. A number of the sampling, missing data, and reliability issues were encountered with the locally collected database. We propose that a coordinated, long-term population-based longitudinal outcome monitoring approach requires further consideration and examination of the complex systems in which early intervention services are embedded.

Dental caries disparities in early childhood: A study of kindergarten children in British Columbia

ObjectiveThe objective of this paper was to describe results of a public health-administered, provincial dental survey of children aged 4–6 years old in British Columbia, and assess the changes in rates of dental caries geographically and by neighbourhood socio-economic status between baseline (2006/07) and follow-up data collection (2009/10).MethodThe study design involved two retrospective cohorts of kindergarten children who received a public health-administered dental assessment in the years 2006/07 and 2009/10. Neighbourhood socio-economic status was measured by an index created from Canadian Census and Tax Filer data sets. The dental outcomes included previous decay experience, untreated visible decay, and urgent treatment needs.ResultsThe analysis comprised dental outcomes for 35,602 kindergarten children in 2006/07 and 35,215 children in 2009/10. There was a modest decrease in dental decay rates between surveys, with rates of decay experience–previous and untreated–of 38.9% and 36.7% respectively. However, there were disparities, with almost 50% of children with dental decay in the most socio-economically disadvantaged neighbourhoods, and approximately 30% with dental decay in the least disadvantaged areas.ConclusionThe kindergarten dental survey had extensive coverage, was at the population level, and enabled analysis of change in early childhood dental decay rates over time and by geography. Although overall rates improved, dental health inequalities persisted in both survey years at both regional and neighbourhood levels.RésuméObjectifDécrire les résultats d’une enquête dentaire provinciale de santé publique menée auprès des enfants de 4 à 6 ans en Colombie-Britannique, et évaluer les changements dans les taux de carie dentaire sur le plan géographique et selon le statut socioéconomique du quartier entre la base de référence (2006–2007) et la collecte des données de suivi (2009–2010).MethodLe protocole d’étude comportait deux cohortes rétrospectives d’enfants de la maternelle ayant reçu un examen dentaire administré par la santé publique en 2006–2007 et en 2009–2010. Le statut socioéconomique du quartier a été mesuré selon un indice créé à partir du Recensement canadien et des jeux de données des déclarants de l’impôt. Les résultats dentaires étaient l’expérience préalable des caries, les caries visibles non traitées et les besoins urgents de traitement.RésultatsL’analyse a porté sur les résultats dentaires de 35 602 enfants de la maternelle en 2006–2007 et de 35 215 enfants en 2009–2010. Il y a eu une baisse modeste des taux de carie dentaire entre les deux enquêtes, avec des taux d’expérience des caries–antérieures et non traitées–de 38,9 % et de 36,7 %, respectivement. Toutefois, il y a eu des disparités: près de 50 % des enfants avaient des caries dentaires dans les quartiers les plus défavorisés sur le plan socioéconomique, contre environ 30 % dans les quartiers les moins défavorisés.ConclusionL’enquête dentaire auprès des enfants de la maternelle avait une vaste couverture, elle a été menée à l’échelle de la population, et elle a permis d’analyser les changements spatiotemporels dans les taux de carie dentaire des jeunes enfants. Bien que les taux globaux se soient améliorés, les inégalités sur le plan de la santé dentaire ont subsisté au cours des deux années de l’enquête, tant à l’échelle régionale qu’à celle des quartiers.