EARLY HEARING DETECTION AND INTERVENTION VIRTUAL CONFERENCE
MARCH 2-5, 2021
(Virtually the same conference, without elevators, airplane tickets, or hotel room keys)
Monday Afternoon Plenary
The Role of Fathers of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Toddlers in Educational Practice
Although family-centered intervention has become the standard in supporting toddlers who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) and their families, reality in educational practice reveals that the whole family is not always included in early intervention. In particular, fathers are mostly left out of picture, and therefore most of the research data we have are data from mothers. This is not bad, but perhaps it will not be enough! This is surprising because we have quite a bit of research about families of children without disabilities. The available data reveal the specific role that fathers (can) play for child development: Fathers influence their children in many domains ranging from positive psychological adjustment and lower distress during adolescence, fewer behavioral problems during the preschool, elementary and high school years, improved language and cognitive development during the early childhood years, and more positive peer relationships during early childhood. There is also emerging evidence that fathers’ involvement can have similar positive impact on family and child outcomes for children with disabilities. The presentation will offer a concise summary of the published research about the role of fathers for child development in general and about the role of fathers with children who have disabilities and fathers who have a child who is DHH. The data presented will demonstrate that involvement of fathers with infants and toddlers who are DHH in early intervention may be a challenge for some reasons. But, the data also show that involvement of fathers is important for the development of infants and toddlers who are DHH and the well-being of the families.
Presenter: Manfred Hintermair
From 1994 to 2016, Dr. Hintermair was a Professor of Psychology at the Department for Special Education at the University of Education in Heidelberg, Germany. His primary interest in research is family socialisation and deafness, and socio-emotional development of children who are DHH. He has published numerous books and articles about deaf education and child development. He has been retired since 2016, but is still involved in several research projects.
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