What is the impact of an infant's diminished hearing on the infant and its parents? How does communication develop in cases of diminished hearing? How does diminished hearing affect social and cognitive development? What types of early interventions can improve communication and development? This book presents the results of a fifteen-year research study which addresses these questions. Through this research, the book looks into the world of deaf infants. From a core group of eighty families which included all four combinations of parent-infant hearing status, data was collected longitudinally ... More

What is the impact of an infant's diminished hearing on the infant and its parents? How does communication develop in cases of diminished hearing? How does diminished hearing affect social and cognitive development? What types of early interventions can improve communication and development? This book presents the results of a fifteen-year research study which addresses these questions. Through this research, the book looks into the world of deaf infants. From a core group of eighty families which included all four combinations of parent-infant hearing status, data was collected longitudinally at nine, twelve, fifteen, and eighteen months. Mother-infant interactions were recorded and observed in both structured and unstructured settings; mothers' facial, vocal, and tactile behaviors during interactions were related to infants' temperament and stress; mothers' linguistic and communication behaviors, as well as their overall responsiveness, were related to children's language; and the effects of support provided to mothers were evaluated and explored. The results are dramatic, particularly with regard to infant attachment behaviors and the importance of visual attention in the overall development of deaf infants.