Caregiver-Implemented Communication Intervention for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

The implementation of universal newborn hearing screenings increased the need for effective early communication interventions for children who are deaf/hard of hearing (HoH). Given the importance of caregiver language input for communication development for children who are deaf/HoH, current intervention research focuses on understanding the efficacy of early interventions that instruct caregivers to use language facilitation strategies to support their child’s communication and language development (i.e., caregiver-implemented early interventions). Preliminary research suggests that caregiver-implemented early interventions are an efficacious approach to early interventions for young children with cochlear implants. Nonetheless, there is a need for large-scale clinical trials designed to evaluate the efficacy of caregiver-implemented communication interventions in diverse samples that are representative of all families with deaf/HoH children.