Sara Ingber

Social Competence, Sense of Loneliness, and Speech Intelligibility of Young Children With Hearing Loss in Individual Inclusion and Group Inclusion

The study focused on social competence (SC) and perceived sense of loneliness of preschool children with hearing loss (HL) in group inclusion (GI, a small group of children with HL is integrated in a standard classroom) and individual inclusion (II, each child with HL is individually integrated into a standard classroom). The relations between these factors and the childs speech intelligibility were performed. Sixty-four children aged 4-7 years participated: 22 from an II and 42 from a GI. SC, perceived sense of loneliness, and speech intelligibility were evaluated through the use of questionnaires completed by the preschool teachers. The results showed that the SC of children in II was higher than the SC of the children in GI, while interacting with normal hearing (NH) children. In GI, the childrens SC with other children with HL was higher compared with their SC with NH children. In both groups, there were relationships between speech intelligibility and SC with NH children. In addition, in the II setting, there were relationships between the speech intelligibility and the perceived sense of loneliness. These relationships were not found in the GI setting. The findings support the need for coenrollment of preschool children with HL and emphasize the crucial impact of speech intelligibility of children with HL on the success of their social enrollment with NH children, already at a young age.

Mothers' Involvement in Early Intervention for Children with Hearing Loss: The Role of Maternal Characteristics and Context-Based Perceptions.

This study examined the contribution of a model of maternal characteristics in explaining mothers’ involvement in the early intervention of their 1- to 7-year-old children with hearing loss. The model of maternal factors affecting mothers’ involvement in intervention comprised (a) four personal characteristics conceived as exogenous variables (anxiety, curiosity, anger, and motivation) and (b) two maternal context-based perceptions conceived as mediating variables (pessimism about their children’s potentials and informal social support). The sample included 114 mother—child dyads (67 boys, 47 girls) who attended the Kesher early intervention program in Israel. Path analysis indicated a high fit between the theoretical model and the empirical findings. Discussion focused on understanding the unique value of mothers’ characteristics for their involvement in their children’s early intervention programs.

Enhancing Sequential Time Perception and Storytelling Ability of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

A 3-month intervention was conducted to enhance the sequential time perception and storytelling ability of young children with hearing loss. The children were trained to arrange pictorial episodes of temporal scripts and tell the stories they created. Participants (N = 34, aged 4-7 years) were divided into 2 groups based on whether their spoken-language gap was more or less than 1 year compared to age norms. They completed A. Kaufman and N. Kaufmans (1983) picture series subtest and Guralniks (1982) storytelling test at pretest and posttest. Measures demonstrated significant improvement in sequential time and storytelling achievement postintervention. Three of the examined demographic variables revealed correlations: Participants with genetic etiology showed greater improvement in time sequencing and storytelling than participants with unknown etiology; early onset of treatment correlated with better achievement in time sequencing; cochlear implant users showed greater storytelling improvement than hearing aid users.

Fathers' Involvement in Preschool Programs for Children With and Without Hearing Loss

The authors compared the involvement in children’s development and education of 38 fathers of preschoolers with hearing loss to the involvement of a matched group of 36 fathers of preschoolers with normal hearing, examining correlations between child, father, and family characteristics. Fathers completed self-reports regarding their parental involvement and parenting self-efficacy and reported on their family cohesion and adaptability. Mothers also reported on their husbands’ involvement. Similarly high levels of involvement on the part of both groups of fathers were found. Involvement correlated positively with fathers’ self-reported parenting self-efficacy, family cohesion, and adaptability, and mother-reported paternal involvement. Implications for professionals and mothers are discussed, including the need to encourage mothers’ support for their husbands’ involvement and to empower fathers’ sense of competency in order to increase their involvement.

Effects of Exposure to Inclusion and Socioeconomic Status on Parental Attitudes Towards the Inclusion of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

Abstract The purpose of the study was to investigate the attitudes of parents of normal hearing (NH) children towards the inclusion of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children in the educational setting of their child. In particular, it examined the effect of parental socio economic status (SES) and exposure to inclusion (whether their child was in a class together with DHH children or not) on their attitudes. Hundred and thirteen parents of children with NH aged 4–6 years participated in the study. The parents differed in terms of SES and their experience with inclusion. All the parents completed a questionnaire on general attitudes towards inclusion and a background questionnaire. The parents whose children attended a class that included DHH children completed an additional questionnaire on their evaluation of the effects of the inclusion of DHH children in the regular class. The results indicated that in general, all the parents reported positive attitudes towards the inclusion of DHH children in a regular class with NH children. ANOVA revealed a significant interaction between SES and parental exposure to inclusion on parents’ attitudes towards inclusion. Among parents whose child attended a class that included a DHH child, middle-high SES parental attitudes were more positive than those of lower SES parents. By contrast, among parents whose child was not enrolled in an inclusive class the attitudes of middle-high SES parents were less positive than low SES parents. The results suggest that it is important to obtain information on parents’ attitudes toward inclusive programmes and to address their needs.

Enhancing Storytelling Ability with Virtual Environment among Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children

The study conducted a 3-month intervention to improve deaf and hard-of-hearing children’s storytelling ability through training in arranging episodes of temporal scripts, and telling the stories they created. We examined 65 D/HH children aged four to seven years who were divided into two groups: virtual reality (VR) technological intervention and pictorial non-technological intervention. Participants completed pretest and posttest measures and demonstrated significant improvement in storytelling achievements following intervention. In the VR group the improvement was much more significant. In addition, participants at an early age at onset of treatment correlated with children’s better achievements in storytelling.

VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS AS A TOOL FOR IMPROVING SEQUENCE ABILITY OF DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING CHILDREN

The study examined the efficacy of an early intervention program to improve children’s sequential time perception through virtual versus pictorial training in arranging episodes of temporal scripts. The researchers examined 65 deaf and hard of hearing children ages 4–7 years who were divided into two groups: (a) virtual environments technological intervention and (b) pictorial nontechnological intervention. Participants completed pretest and posttest measures. Both groups demonstrated significant improvement in sequential time achievement following intervention. However, the improvement was much more significant in the technological group.