Early Intervention Practices for Children With Hearing Loss: Impact of Professional Development

Early identification and appropriate intervention services for children who are deaf or hard of hearing significantly increase the likelihood of better language, speech, and social-emotional development. However, current research suggests that there is a critical shortage of professionals trained to provide early intervention services to deaf and hard of hearing infants and toddlers. In an effort to address the shortage, Illinois State University designed an interdisciplinary program aimed at providing the coursework and training needed by professionals to effectively serve infants and toddlers with hearing loss. The current study sought to evaluate the competencies of graduate students employing evidence-based strategies in listening and spoken language development following the completion of the program. It was hypothesized that the training program would lead to an increase in the use of evidence-based early intervention strategies specific to infants and toddlers with hearing loss and an increase in the frequency of their use. The results of the current study did not suggest that there was a significant difference in the use of evidence-based strategies following the completion of coursework; however, they did indicate that the interventionists involved were utilizing the strategies in both the home and the clinic-based setting.