2022 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Virtual Conference
March 13 - 15, 2022
3/04/2021 | 2:10 PM - 2:30 PM | The Relationship between Early Language Experience and Long-term Academic Outcomes | Topical Breakout
The Relationship between Early Language Experience and Long-term Academic Outcomes
Early intervention can have long-term benefits for deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children generally. Less is known about how early language experiences shape long-term academic outcomes among deaf children learning American Sign Language during and after typical early intervention years. DHH students have variable academic outcomes and often lag behind their hearing peers across subject areas. Deaf children who are learning ASL vary in when they begin learning, whether their parents are deaf or hearing, and how proficient they are. The goal of this study was to understand whether and how these different early sign language experiences shape long-term academic achievement for signing DHH students. This longitudinal study tracked 569 children over four years and examined academic achievement using the standardized Measure of Academic Progress (MAP) scores, including separate assessments of reading, writing/grammar, science, and math. The study looked at predictors of MAP scores using a mixed-effects linear regression that included ASL comprehension scores, age of enrollment in an ASL intervention program, parental hearing status, grade, year, and random effects of participants. Because these early language variables are generally correlated, the effects of each predictor were confirmed using a log-likelihood comparison procedure that is robust to collinearity. For all academic subject categories, children with stronger ASL skills had better outcomes than children who use ASL but have weaker ASL skills (? = 2.39, p < 0.001). There was also a significant effect of age of sign language intervention (B = 0.88, p = 0.008); the younger children were when they began learning ASL, the better their academic outcomes. Log-likelihood tests confirmed that ASL proficiency and age of intervention each had independent effects on academic outcomes above and beyond one another and the other predictors. The results suggest that as they make early intervention plans, families who choose to sign with their DHH children and their providers should be aware that early language experiences can have long-term effects on academic achievement.
- Participants will critically analyze evidence about the relationship between early language experience and academic outcomes.
- Participants will interpret data about academic outcomes.
- Participants will examine what factors in early intervention contribute to positive academic outcomes.
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Presenters/Authors
Erin Finton
(), Boston University, efinton@bu.edu;
Erin Finton, MA is a PhD student in the Boston University Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. She earned an Ed.M. in Adult Education from the University of Toronto and from 2012-2018, taught English courses to deaf and hard of hearing students at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. She studies language development in adult populations and specifically looks at L2 acquisition in Deaf adults. She is particularly interested in researching and developing curricula and academic interventions to address the effects of late and delayed language access in adolescent and adult populations.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Wyatte Hall
(), University of Rochester Medical Center, wyatte_hall@urmc.rochester.edu;
Wyatte C. Hall, Ph.D. is a Research Assistant Professor in the Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Public Health Sciences, and Neurology departments within the University of Rochester Medical Center. His primary research interest is the role of language as a social determinant of population health within the Deaf community.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -
Michele Berke
(), California School for the Deaf, mberke@csdf-cde.ca.gov;
Michele Berke has worked for over 30 years in programs within the Deaf community. Her experience includes management of a rest home for deaf and deaf-blind senior citizens, directing Gallaudet University's western regional office, coordinating a US Department of Education funded project to develop an ASL Assessment tool, and teaching college-level Linguistics of ASL courses.
Berke currently works at the California School for the Deaf in Fremont as Principal in the Early Childhood Education Department. Her doctoral studies in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences from the University of Colorado in Boulder focused on exploring the shared reading practices of Deaf and hearing mothers and their pre-school children.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Laura T. Petersen
(), California Department of Education, ltpetersen@csdf-cde.ca.gov;
Laura T Petersen MA Ed, currently provides support to families in California with young Deaf/HH children in her position as Early Intervention Consultant with the California Department of Education. She has worked with families with Deaf and Hard of Hearing children as a parent infant specialist, a behavior specialist, a home visit teacher and an Early Intervention Educational Consultant in both medical and educational environments. She supports families by helping them navigate the medical and educational interventions using research-based information regarding language acquisition and social-emotional development as they apply to the academic readiness of their children.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
No relevant financial relationship exist.
Nonfinancial -
No relevant nonfinancial relationship exist.
Naomi Caselli
(), Boston University, nkc@bu.edu;
Naomi Caselli, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Programs in Deaf Studies at Boston University. She is the PI on three NIH and NSF funded grants examining to vocabulary of ASL, and how language deprivation affects how people learn and process ASL signs. She earned a joint PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Science from Tufts University, as well as an Ed.M. in Deaf Education and an M.A. in Psychology from Boston University. She is hearing, and a native speaker of both ASL and English.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
Financial -
Nonfinancial -