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ABSTRACT
When caregivers decide to use Auslan within a Bilingual-Bicultural (Bi-Bi) approach with their children who use cochlear implants (CI/s), the feasibility aspect is more easily addressed for caregivers who are deaf or hard of hearing who are, themselves, fluent in Auslan. Some caregivers who have hearing within the typical range who may have no prior knowledge of Auslan also choose to use Auslan within a Bi-Bi approach. Of 168 caregivers who completed a Parental Views about Communication (PVaC) Questionnaire, 34 were identified who used Auslan within a Bi-Bi approach with their child both pre- and post-CI. This study aimed to understand the underlying themes and perspectives regarding their choices to use Auslan, with reference to child and family characteristics. Caregivers’ open-ended written comments in Section 3 (perspectives on communication) and Section 5 (open comments) of the PVaC were subjected to qualitative content analysis with post-hoc NVivo analysis. Caregivers commented on the benefits of using Auslan within a Bi-Bi approach and their satisfaction regarding significant changes in their child’s post-CI communication. Other themes included: dissatisfaction with clinicians’ suggestions to prioritize speech as the mode of communication; significant listening gains for children with additional special needs; future expectations regarding Auslan and oral language; child preferences using Auslan within a Bi-Bi approach; and improvements in speech production. Caregivers’ main reasons for choosing Auslan within a Bi-Bi approach were related to present communication needs and preparation for future communication needs. These data have important implications for the field to guide clinicians working with families; clinicians need to be cognizant of caregivers’ perspectives on Auslan within a Bi-Bi approach for children using CI/s and empathetic to underlying reasons for the choices made.
Contributors
The study was designed by Shani Dettman. Data collection and analysis, writing and editing the manuscript was completed by both Shani Dettman and Sarah Siran.
Ethics approval
All study procedures were approved by The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital Human Research and Ethics Committee (RVEEH HREC; project number: 04/564H/14 and project number: 12/1063H).
Acknowledgements
Cochlear Implant Clinic, Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, Melbourne, Australia and The University of Melbourne, Australia for access to data needed for this study. Thank you to the parents who took the time to complete this questionnaire, and the dedicated speech pathologists, audiologists, administration staff and surgeons at the CIC, RVEEH.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes on contributors
Sarah Siran worked as a speech pathologist in Sibu Hospital, Malaysia, from 2010 to 2014. She completed a Bachelor of Speech Science With Honours (2009) at the National University of Malaysia and Masters of Speech Pathology (2015) at the University of Melbourne. Sarah is currently a Speech Pathologist at the Royal Queensland Bush Children’s Health Scheme (BUSHkids). She is passionate about empowering children and families in their communication journey.
Dr Shani Dettman worked as a speech pathologist in the Cochlear Implant Clinic and researcher at the University of Melbourne from 1987 to 2005. She completed a Masters of Education (1997) and Ph.D. (2005) at the University of Melbourne, and completed Auditory Verbal Certification in 2003. Shani is currently Senior Lecturer (Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, University of Melbourne). Her research interests focus on factors affecting outcomes for children using cochlear implants, educational support for students with significant hearing loss, and characteristics of maternal input directed to children who are acquiring language.