Communication Resources for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children in Mississippi: Parents' Perspectives

Researchers have provided valuable information to the parents and teachers of deaf children (Marschark & Hauser, 2012; Morere, 2011; Weaver & Starner, 2011). Hearing parents of children with hearing impairments must choose between several communication options: listening and spoken language systems, manual-visual systems, and systems combining these two modalities (Blaiser & Bargen, 2018). According to Meadow-Orlans (2003), the availability of communication resources varies across geographic location. In some cases, parents expressed that they did not have choices in how they communicated with their children because of the lack of services where they lived. What's more, Furno et al. (2020) indicated that rural areas are especially lacking in such resources. The purpose of this study is twofold: first, it will explore variables that may affect the communication choices that hearing parents make for their deaf or hard of hearing children. Second, it will seek a deeper understanding of these choices. It will investigate why parents chose their communication method and explore the choices they felt they had. This is the first step in answering the question: Do communication resources available in certain locations have a significant bearing on the communication methods parents use with their deaf or hard of hearing children?