Parents of children with hearing loss (HL) often navigate an unfamiliar and uncertain path. This qualitative study investigated the nature of parental uncertainty: (1) immediately after a child's HL was identified; (2) prior to primary school entry; and (3) during primary school. Open-ended questions in online surveys were completed by…

While there is a growing level of demand for accountability and documentation of services provided to students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH), there is a paucity of evidence on the nature of such support; who (personnel), what (content), and how (delivery). This study describes Teacher of the Deaf (ToD) perspectives on current classroom…

Classroom engagement can be problematic for students who are deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH), but is essential to ensure that they can reach their best educational and postschool outcomes. This study used semi-structured interviews to explore the self-perceived barriers and facilitators to classroom engagement for 16 DHH students educated in…

This paper explores the associations between different types of social capital and other measures including wellbeing, school connectedness, and pragmatic language. Seventeen adolescents who were deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) from Australia and the United Kingdom completed an online survey and their results were analysed to answer research…

This study investigated the pragmatic skills of 41 deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students, enrolled in a Deaf Facility within a mainstream primary school. Five groups of DHH students (aged 6-12 years) across Foundation to Year 6 participated in two small-group wellbeing lessons with their teachers of the deaf. Video recordings of these lessons…

Family-Centred Early Intervention (FCEI), an international congress that meets biannually, concurred that programmes serving young deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) children and their families should include D/HH adults when offering family social and emotional support (Principle 4) and engaging in collaborative teamwork with D/HH adults (Principle…

Otitis Media (OM) is an important global issue that can have a long-lasting impact on a child's life. There is no easy fix! For a family who has a child with OM, the ramifications can be short term and have minimal consequences, or they can be very complex and involve medical, educational, behavioural and wellbeing issues, and may even be…

Otitis media is very common in Aboriginal children in Western Australia and chronic ear disease causes major problems in speech and language development and education. Up until recently, most programmes dealing with the problem of OM have focused on clinical interventions rather than prevention. The Enhanced Prevention Working Group was…

Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are affected by chronic middle ear infection or otitis media from infancy that has a negative impact on development of listening and communication skills. Deficits in these skills are often not detected until school-age when the opportunity for early intervention is lost. Primary health and early…

The majority of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter referred to as "Aboriginal") people live in urban centres. Otitis media (OM) occurs at a younger age, prevalence is higher and hearing loss and other serious complications are more common in Aboriginal than non-Aboriginal children. Despite this, data on the…

Ear infection or otitis media (OM) occurs in many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children at a young age and tends to persist over a long period of time. Chronic OM is associated with conductive hearing loss that reduces a child's access to sounds. This can have a negative impact on development of listening and communication skills. Primary…

Children who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) are at higher risk of developing mental health problems. This study reports on the parent and teacher ratings of emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD) in 5-year old DHH children. It explores the similarities and differences between informants, and the risk and protective factors associated with…