Parent coaching behaviours in in-person and telepractice early intervention for children with hearing loss

Abstract

Family-Centered Early Intervention (FCEI) involves developing parents' knowledge and skills through parent coaching to support the listening and language development of their children with hearing loss. The traditional delivery of parent coaching at FCEI has been in in-person settings. With the advancement of technology, telepractice has become widespread. This has increased the diversity of service delivery, especially for children with hearing loss who face difficulty accessing a qualified interventionist. This study examined the parent coaching behaviours of an educator providing early intervention services to children with hearing loss and their parents in in-person and telepractice settings. The research is a qualitative case study. Data were collected through observation, an interview, documents and a research diary. The results indicated that implementing feedback, modelling and guided practice varied due to challenges in engaging children during telepractice sessions. In-person, these behaviours were applied within the activity involving both parent and child. In telepractice, feedback and modelling were limited to discussions with the parent, and guided practice was not demonstrated. The results suggest that, despite the educator's efforts to find solutions, structural limitations may have limited the support parents received from telepractice sessions compared to in-person sessions.