Early Hearing, Language, and Attachment based Interventions for Deaf Children under Age of Two

Given the importance of early intervention and the role of initial parent-child interactions in the development of language, communicational skills, and social as well as emotional capabilities of deaf children, the development of a family-oriented rehabilitation program to empower parents as the main therapists seems essential.
Sixty two deaf children, who either undergone cochlear implant surgery or were candidates for cochlear implant surgery were selected using purposive sampling. The subjects were then randomly divided into two groups (experimental and control groups). The subjects of the experimental group received the family-based rehabilitation program. To investigate communication and social-emotional skills, Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scale Developmental Profile/infant toddler checklist (CSBSDP), Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP) & Ages and Stages Questionnaire- Social Emotional (ASQ_SE) were used.
Multivariate data analysis with repeated measures design showed that the family-centered rehabilitation program was effective in increasing communication and social-emotional skills of the deaf children participating in this study population. Moreover, in the follow-up, the effect of this program on the dependent variables of the study and their components is stable.
The results are indicative of the effect of the family-based comprehensive rehabilitation program on development of communication and social-emotional skills. Therefore, it is recommended that this program should be used at rehabilitation centers for deaf children.