Deafness and Diversity

Abstract

The diversity of deafness is a theme often reported in the deaf education literature regarding a wide range of communication and language preferences, cultural and ethnic backgrounds and additional disabilities that influence the lives of deaf and hard of hearing children and young people. With an estimated 30% to 40% of deaf children diagnosed with additional disabilities and an increasing number of families raising their children in multicultural environments, the landscape of deaf education is diverse and increasingly challenging. Deafness is often a new experience for hearing families whose children are born with hearing loss; more than 90 per cent of deaf and hard of hearing children are born to hearing parents who often have minimal understanding of the influence of deafness on their child’s development. This may mean they are making life-changing choices without access to relevant and evidence-based information. Decision-making, therefore, takes on a sense of urgency, particularly in the context of the time-sensitive development of communication and language in the formative years of a child’s development. Delays in making choices about language input can have dire consequences for a child’s future learning. Parents and caregivers may also experience confusion and uncertainty when dealing with the overwhelming volume of information available on the internet and social media. At times parents may also be faced with attitudinal biases of well-meaning professionals towards specific communication and intervention options. Many professionals who provide information to parents about intervention options may lack expertise in sign language, which also restricts the options available to parents and caregivers. As editors of Deafness & Education International, we acknowledge the essential role played by educators and allied professionals in promoting informed choice and decision-making for parents and caregivers of deaf and hard of hearing children. Parents and caregivers require unbiased information that promotes understanding of the benefits and risks of their choices and the short and long-term consequences of each option, including the risks of language deprivation when children do not have adequate language input. The information-sharing style between parents and caregivers, and professionals may vary according to a family’s needs. Still, the critical message for professionals is that the decision-making model is driven by the family, considering their culture, values and preferences. In our last editorial, “Rethinking the Language Development of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children” (25,1), we discussed the importance of providing a language-rich environment in the early years of a deaf child’s development. In the current issue, we follow this theme and have chosen four articles highlighting parents’ challenging decisions on behalf of their deaf or hard of hearing children with diverse communication and learning needs. You will read about decisions related to language use in a