Harrison Melody, Page Thomas A, Oleson Jacob, Spratford Meredith, Unflat Berry Lauren, Peterson Barbara, Welhaven Anne, Arenas Richard M, Moeller Mary Pat
Lang Speech Hear Serv Sch. 2016 Jan;47(1):16-30. doi: 10.1044/2015_LSHSS-14-0078.
To describe factors affecting early intervention (EI) for children who are hard of hearing, we analyzed (a) service setting(s) and the relationship of setting to families' frequency of participation, and (b) provider preparation, caseload composition, and experience in relation to comfort with skills that support spoken language for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (CDHH).
Participants included 122 EI professionals who completed an online questionnaire annually and 131 parents who participated in annual telephone interviews.
Most families received EI in the home. Family participation in this setting was significantly higher than in services provided elsewhere. EI professionals were primarily teachers of CDHH or speech-language pathologists. Caseload composition was correlated moderately to strongly with most provider comfort levels. Level of preparation to support spoken language weakly to moderately correlated with provider comfort with 18 specific skills.
Results suggest family involvement is highest when EI is home-based, which supports the need for EI in the home whenever possible. Access to hands-on experience with this population, reflected in a high percentage of CDHH on providers' current caseloads, contributed to professional comfort. Specialized preparation made a modest contribution to comfort level.
为描述影响听力受损儿童早期干预（EI）的因素，我们分析了以下内容：（a）服务环境以及环境与家庭参与频率的关系，（b）提供者的准备情况、工作量构成以及与支持聋哑和听力受损儿童（CDHH）口语技能的舒适度相关的经验。
参与者包括122名每年完成在线问卷的EI专业人员和131名参与年度电话访谈的家长。
大多数家庭在家庭环境中接受EI。家庭在这种环境中的参与度显著高于在其他地方提供的服务中的参与度。EI专业人员主要是CDHH教师或言语语言病理学家。工作量构成与大多数提供者的舒适度呈中度到高度相关。支持口语的准备水平与提供者对18项特定技能的舒适度呈弱到中度相关。
结果表明，当EI以家庭为基础时，家庭参与度最高，这支持了尽可能在家庭中进行EI的必要性。提供者当前工作量中有很高比例的CDHH，这反映出有机会接触这一人群的实践经验，有助于提高专业舒适度。专业准备对舒适度有一定贡献。
