19th ANNUAL EARLY HEARING DETECTION & INTERVENTION MEETING
March 8-10, 2020 • Kansas City, MO
Supporting Pragmatics of a Child who is Deaf or Hard of Hearing: A Guide for Parents
Pragmatics, or the social use of language, is a skill learned early in life by most typically-developing children. Pragmatics is the ability to understand and use social language skills when communicating, such as knowing how to engage in appropriate greetings, changing language according to the needs of the listener or the situation, following rules for conversation (e.g., knowing how to enter a playgroup, not interrupting, making eye contact), and recognizing the impact of non-verbal cues, body-language, or facial expressions. Research has shown that children with hearing loss are at risk for delayed or insufficient pragmatic language development as compared with their typical hearing peers. Children with hearing loss often benefit from explicit instruction to learn and use age-appropriate social language interactions. There are various resources available to teachers to integrate pragmatics instruction within the curriculum. However, parents spend more time engaging with their preschool child than teachers given the ratio of time spent at home relative to time spent at school. Parents are able to observe their child’s social interactions across a variety of environments; thus, their opportunity to recognize atypical behaviors and partner with their child’s teacher to address areas of concern is greater. As such, parent education and awareness of social pragmatics development could be crucial to their child’s educational experiences and could facilitate collaboration with teachers in promoting their child’s social language use across a variety of settings. This presentation will 1) describe age-appropriate social language development for preschool-age children, 2) provide suggestions for parents to incorporate social skill development into their everyday routines with their child, and 3) introduce participants to a free, online guide that includes pragmatics development and skill targets, case studies, and activities for parents to incorporate social language reinforcements in their routines at home.
- Participants will discuss the elements of social pragmatics and the importance of pragmatics development for preschool age children who are DHH.
- Participants will examine ways parents can work on social pragmatics with their child who is DHH within their own home.
- Participants will be introduced to a free parent guide that will describe targeted pragmatic skills, a case study describing the need for the skill, and activities for the family to implement at home.
Poster:
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Presenter: Brigid Giles
Brigid is originally from Maryland and she moved to Utah to complete her Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Special Education at the University of Utah. During that time, she served families of children with disabilities as an Early Intervention Specialist. She then got offered her current position and a Listening and Spoken Language Preschool teacher at Utah Schools for the Deaf and Blind. Brigid is pursuing her Master of Education degree in Deaf Education with a Listening and Spoken Language Emphasis in Early Childhood Education and will graduate May of 2020. When Brigid is not in the classroom or working on coursework, she is spending time traveling, hiking, and spending time with friends and family.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Lauri Nelson is a Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders and Deaf Education at Utah State University. She is the Deaf Education Division Chair, the Director of the Listening and Spoken Language Deaf Education graduate training program and Sound Beginnings. She was one of the co-founders of the Hear to Learn website. She has a dual background as both a pediatric audiologist and LSL deaf educator.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.