2027 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 22-24, 2027 • Bellevue, WA
3/17/2026 | 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM | Parental sensitivity and beyond: Building the foundation for language development in deaf and hard-of-hearing children | City Terrace 11
Parental sensitivity and beyond: Building the foundation for language development in deaf and hard-of-hearing children
Introduction: Little is known about the qualitative dynamics integral to successful parent-child interactions (e.g., joint engagement) and subsequent language skills in DHH children. This study examined the relationship between qualitative features of positive interactions (i.e., child joint engagement, shared routines and rituals, fluency and connectedness, and parental self-efficacy) at an early point in children’s development and language outcomes a year or more later.
Method: Participants were recruited from a prospective longitudinal study about infant-directed speech and language development in DHH children with cochlear implants (CI) and hearing aids (HA). The study includes 12 mothers, 1 father, all hearing and children with CI (n=8) and HA (n = 5). Dyads participated in a recorded semi-structured play task (i.e., three-boxes task) (M age of children = 20 months). Language data collected was collected 12- to 18-months later (M age = 31.38 months). Interactions were rated using an adaptation of the Joint Engagement Rating Inventory (JERI) (Suma et al., 2023). Language was assessed using the Preschool Language Scale – 5th edition (PLS-5; Zimmerman et al., 2011).
Results: Dyads engaged in higher levels of joint engagement and fluency and connectedness compared to shared routines and rituals. Average sensitivity ratings were moderately high. Child language outcomes were in the low-average range (expressive, M = 93.69, receptive M = 91.85, respectively). Fluency and connectedness was most strongly correlated with expressive, receptive and total language outcomes 12- to 18-months later (r = .77, p = .004; r = .62, p = .030; r = .70, p = .011, respectively).
Conclusion: Parent-child interaction is a key component of DHH children developing language. Our findings suggest certain qualitative aspects of parent-child interactions (i.e., balanced turn-taking, active engagement with a shared topic/object) promotes expressive and receptive language skills. Limitations and future directions for research are discussed.
- Identify three indicators of high-quality parent-child interaction.
- Describe parental sensitivity.
- Describe implications of the study findings.
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Presenters/Authors
Carrie Davenport
(Primary Presenter,Author), Building Bridges Consulting, LLC, carrietdavenport@gmail.com;
Carrie Davenport, Ph.D. is the founder of Building Bridges Consulting, LLC, a company focuses on projects that create connections across fields, disciplines, and the people that touch the lives of children who are deaf/hard-of-hearing (D/HH) and their families. Prior, she was a postdoctoral research scholar in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery at the Wexner Medical Center. She has a doctorate in Special Education from The Ohio State University and master’s degree in Family-Centered Early Education from Gallaudet University. She completed the Educational Consultant Training Program in cochlear implants at the California Ear Institute. She was a teacher of the deaf in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and the Early Childhood Consultant for the Center for Outreach Services at the Ohio School for the Deaf. She co-founded Ohio Hands & Voices and a statewide community collaborative, Children’s Hearing and Language Development Resource Network [CHLDRN] of Ohio. Her research centers on early parent-child interaction and language development in deaf/hard-of-hearing children and parental self-efficacy. She is particularly interested in using a community-based participatory research approach to addressing the needs of D/HH children and their families.Currently, she is adjunct faculty in the Early Intervention Services program at Gallaudet University.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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No relevant financial relationship exists.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
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No relevant financial relationship exists.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Elaine Smolen
(Co-Presenter,Co-Author), Teachers College, Columbia University, es3519@tc.columbia.edu;
Elaine Smolen, PhD, CED, LSLS Cert. AVEd, is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Special Education: Deaf and Hard of Hearing program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research work centers around language and literacy development for young deaf and hard of hearing children who use listening and spoken language. Smolen received her PhD in deaf and hard of hearing education from Columbia as a National Leadership Consortium in Sensory Disabilities scholar. An experienced teacher of the deaf and certified Listening and Spoken Language Specialist, Smolen has served young children with hearing loss and their families as a head classroom teacher and in an itinerant role. She is proud to be hard of hearing.
ASHA DISCLOSURE:
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• Receives Salary for Employment from Teachers College, Columbia University.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
AAA DISCLOSURE:
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Financial relationship with Teachers College, Columbia University.
Nature: salary.
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No relevant nonfinancial relationship exists.
Katharine Suma
(Co-Author), University of Georgia, suma@uga.edu;
Katharine Suma, PhD, received her doctorate from the University of Georgia in Human Development and Family Science in 2025. Her research focuses on culturally sensitive observational measurements and culturally grounded parenting practices. She also has extensive experience working with a variety of research groups creating, adapting, and implementing observational measurement of behaviors present in early parent-child interactions. This work has been conducted internationally, with children with varying developmental trajectories, disabilities, and ages. She is also the lead researcher and trainer for the Joint Engagement Rating Inventory (JERI), an adaptable collection observation items that capture child and caregiver behaviors, joint engagement and other engagement states of the child, and dyadic interaction items.
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Precious-Janae Romain
(Co-Author), HELLO Lab at the University of Connecticut, precious-janae.romain@uconn.edu;
Precious-Janae Romain is a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences and a master's student in the Speech-Language Pathology program at the University of Connecticut. She earned her B.A. in Linguistics with a Psychology minor at Rutgers University in 2023. Her previous research engagements include work in psycholinguistics, dialectal variation and lexical processing, and the role of family dynamics in language acquisition outcomes in deaf/hard-of-hearing children. She currently works in the Hearing Experience and Language Learning Outcomes (HELLO) Lab with an ongoing project investigating child temperament moderation in word learning. Her research interests include spoken language development and acquisition in children with hearing loss, bilingualism, auditory and speech perception in language learning, and child temperament.
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Roberta Golinkoff
(Co-Author), University of Delaware, roberta@udel.edu;
Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, Ph.D., is the Unidel H. Rodney Sharp Professor
of Education, Psychology, and Linguistics at the University of Delaware and runs the
Child’s Play, Learning, and Development Laboratory. She has received numerous
awards for her contributions to developmental and educational science in the areas
of language development, playful learning, media, and spatial learning. Funded by
federal agencies and foundations, she has written 17 books and monographs.
Passionate about the dissemination of psychological science for improving schools
and families’ lives, she wrote How Babies Talk (Penguin), A Mandate for Playful
Learning in Preschool (Oxford), and Einstein Never Used Flash Cards (Rodale - second
edition to appear early 2026). Her book Becoming Brilliant: What Science Tells Us
About Raising Successful Children (APA Press), reached the New York Times
bestseller list. Her newest book is Making Schools Work: Bringing the Science of
Learning to Joyful Classroom Practice. Dr. Golinkoff also co-founded the Playful
Learning Landscapes project and created the QUILS—Quick Interactive Language
Screener for young children in English and Spanish. She never turns down an
opportunity to spread the findings of psychological science to the lay public.
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Derek Houston
(Co-Author), University of Connecticut, derek.houston@uconn.edu;
Derek M. Houston, PhD, received his doctorate in cognitive psychology from Johns Hopkins University in 2000, focusing on how typically developing infants segment words from fluent speech and recognize words across different talkers. After graduating, he constructed the world's first laboratory to investigate the speech perception and language skills of deaf infants who receive cochlear implants at Indiana University. Since then, his work (supported by NIDCD) has investigated the role of early auditory experience and parent-child interactions on cognitive, linguistic, and social building blocks of language development. He also engages in community-based participatory research aimed at addressing barriers families face in obtaining high-quality early intervention services for their children.
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Robert Bourque
(Co-Author), University of Colorado - Boulder, robert.bourque@uconn.edu;
Robert (Bobby) Bourque is a current master's student at the University of Colorado - Boulder's ATLAS Institute studying Creative Technology & Design. His research interests center around how people learn through play, especially relating to language and STEM learning. He would like to develop novel technology, games, and immersive experiences for education in and out of the classroom.
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