Measuring "Language Access Profiles" in Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children With the DHH Language Exposure Assessment...

Area of Science:

• Deaf Education
• Child Development
• Linguistics

Background:

• Traditional 'communication mode' classifications may oversimplify language exposure for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children.
• A nuanced understanding of language input is crucial for optimizing early development in DHH populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce 'language access profiles' as a superior construct to 'communication mode' for DHH children's early language experience.
• Describe the development and evaluation of a new tool, the D-LEAT, to measure these language access profiles in infancy and toddlerhood.
• Assess the novelty, reliability, and validity of the D-LEAT.

Main Methods:

• Adapted the Language Exposure Assessment Tool for DHH populations, creating the D-LEAT.
• Administered the D-LEAT to caregivers of 105 DHH children (≤12 years).
• Evaluated convergent validity with another tool, and test-retest reliability via re-interviews; used cluster analysis to identify profile groups.

Main Results:

• The D-LEAT revealed significant diversity in DHH children's language access experiences.
• Cluster analysis identified distinct groupings, differing from traditional communication mode categories.
• The D-LEAT demonstrated good test-retest reliability and strong content, convergent, and face validity.

Conclusions:

• Replacing 'communication mode' with 'language access profiles' can optimize developmental potential for DHH children.
• The D-LEAT is the first instrument to measure this novel construct, showing progress over current methods.
• The D-LEAT offers a more accurate assessment of early language environments for DHH infants and toddlers.