When a professional (teacher of the deaf, speech/language pathologist, audiologist, psychologist, early intervention provider, parent leader, Deaf/Hard of Hearing leader/mentor) begins to work with a family/parent whose culture differs from her/his own and the country in which they live, professionals can promote culturally-appropriate services by looking up information on the following pages.
HISTORY AND CULTURE:
A recommended first step is to look up she country of the family/parent’s origin and find information about what services are available in the country of origin, attitudes about disability, what to do and what not to do when interacting with families from these countries. Take not that there can be great diversity within countries. The family/parents with whom you are interacting may not be from the majority cultures of their country of origin, but may be from minority cultures with differences in their perspectives and beliefs.
INFORMATION ABOUT DIFFERENT LANGUAGES:
The language spoken in the home may have very different characteristics than the primary language of the country in which the family/parents are residing. Look at the similarity and differences of the sounds as compared to spoken English or the language spoken in the country in which the family resides. When checking the hearing aid fitting/or cochlear implant map check to see that the infant/child has audibility for all the sounds of the native language. It may be that when two languages are very different, that the child may need two different maps. Look at the development of the sounds in the native language. Even when sounds are similar in the native country and the country in which the family resides, the development of the sounds in spoken language may have different ages of mastery due to frequency of the use of the sounds.
INFORMATION ABOUT DEAF AND HEARING LOSS IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES:
In early intervention services, professionals may wish to provide information to families about deafness and hearing loss such as audiograms, causes of hearing loss, amplification (e.g. hearing aids, cochlear implants, assistive technology). Even when a family is bi- or multi-lingual, they may still prefer to get some information in their native languages. Other family members who may not have multi-lingual ability may want information about Deafness and Hearing Loss.
INFORMATION ABOUT DEVELOPMENTAL MILESTONES IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES:
Families/Parents often don’t know what to anticipate in typical speech/language, cognitive, physical development. Tip sheets are available in multiple languages.
INFORMATION ABOUT INTERVENTION TIPS ABOUT PLAY, LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT, USE OF MUSIC, DRAMA AND ART, AND READING AVAILABLE IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES:
Tip sheets are helpful to parents to give them ideas about how to play with their children, promote language development, incorporate music, drama and art, and support reading development.
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Information about the History and Culture
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Information about Different Languages
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Information about Deafness and Hearing Loss in multiple languages
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Information about Developmental Milestones in multiple languages
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Information about Intervention Tips about Play, Language Development, Use of Music, Drama and Art, and Reading in multiple languages