Literacy and the role of parents of deaf children

AbstractThis study focuses on the involvement of parents in the reading development of their deaf children and gathers evidence on parental experiences of reading with their child at home. Of particular interest is the relationship between teachers and parents working as partners in establishing a literacy environment for deaf children. It is concluded that uncertainty in professional practice about methods of developing literacy in deaf children could be one of the reasons why confident support is not always offered to parents. Questionnaire data suggest that only a minority of parents in the study received advice from teachers on reading interaction strategies or on appropriate materials for home reading with their children. Although most of the parents in the study enjoyed reading with their children at home, there remained a large group of parents who expressed concern over obstacles encountered in the reading process and who were unclear about the most effective way to enable their deaf child to beco...