Educators’ perceptions of supporting parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children

ABSTRACT

In this article, we address the question: How do educators of the deaf and hard-of-hearing (EODs) perceive their role vis-a-vis communication modality and educational philosophy of deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) children? Using an ethnographic framework, we report on findings from semi-structured interviews conducted with 16 EODs across public, private, and state levels in California. Through thematic analysis of interview transcripts, we found that EODs have strongly adopted a perspective of supporting informed parent choice. Building on a relational sociology framework, we discuss how these efforts are impacted by ableism, which permeates the network of interdependent social relations and systems that constitute the larger D/HH field. In highlighting the socially structured and produced nature of the decision-making process for parents of D/HH children (Bourdieu, P. 1977. Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge University Press), we argue that to support informed parent choice more effectively, the entire system of relations would need to reflect on the way in which ableism and audism are pervasive throughout the system.

KEYWORDS:

• Deaf or hard-of-hearing
• informed choice
• parent decision making
• relational sociology
• qualitative research

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 (Mauldin, 2016).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Science Foundation SBE Postdoctoral Fellowship: [Grant Number Award # 1911653]; University of California President's Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Notes on contributors

Sara A. Goico

Sara A. Goico's research focuses on the communication of deaf children who have minimal access to signed or spoken languages, utilizing a linguistic ethnographic approach that combines participant observation and video recordings of everyday interaction. She is committed to bringing academic research into conversation with social justice-oriented work to improve language and educational access for deaf children. She works as a Parent–Infant Teacher of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing in the Los Angeles Unified School District Early Start Program, along with holding an Assistant Project Scientist position at UCLA's Center for Language, Interaction, and Culture.

Kristella Montiegel

Kristella Montiegel is a recipient of the Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship for Diversity Program at the University of Colorado, Boulder in the Department of Communication. Her current postdoctoral work explores communication in special education contexts, particularly in Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings. Her primary research methods are conversation analysis and ethnography.