Early Intervention for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Infants, Toddlers, and Their Families

This book will serve as an invaluable resource to those who serve or are planning on serving families who have young children who are deaf or hard of hearing. This book captures the essence of the principles and guidelines of early intervention for this population and takes a big picture view of good intervention, and then narrows it down for practical application for the individual provider serving an individual family and child. As a parent myself, I often refer to my daughter's early intervention provider as 'Our Lifeline' in those early years. This book dissects in a thorough and research based manner exactly what that means. --Janet DesGeorges, Executive Director, Hands & Voices Having embraced newborn screening for hearing sensitivity across the country and in many countries across the world, the promise of early identification of children who are deaf or hard of hearing is fulfilled only if access to language stimulation and timely and effective medical, audiological, and family-centered intervention services are provided. Marilyn Sass-Lehrer describes the principles which are the keys to fulfilling that promise. This new text covers theoretical and practical information that will be valuable for a wide audience of readers. --Terrell A. Clark, Director of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program, Otolaryngology and Communication Enhancement, Boston Children's Hospital; Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Pediatric Psychologist; University Lecturer in Child Development The book is a useful resource for practitioners and trainees to keep at hand. It not only reminds early childhood professionals of the obligation to fully inform any and every family about all possible options for best serving them and their DHH infant or toddler, but provides rationales as well as information on different approaches families should be equally educated about...I found this book incredibly useful as a practitioner in training! Even though it is not written for children in primary school and beyond, I found the information on key early foundations specifically for DHH individuals immensely beneficial...Furthermore, the book supplies practitioners with a way to be consistent in implementing evidence-based practices and continuously reflecting on the process of the development of families as well as their DHH infants or toddlers. --Paige Johnson, review in American Annals of the Deaf