Using Technology to Serve Children Who are Deaf

New research supports the viability of Virtual Home Visiting (VHV) for serving the needs of families and children who are deaf or hard of hearing and learning to listen and talk.

As noted in our last report, Listen and Talk participated in a national multicenter study to evaluate the outcomes and cost-effectiveness of providing services through VHV compared with in-home services. Factors which were evaluated included the development of listening and language skills, the quality of the parent-child interaction, and the development of the parents’ confidence in supporting their child’s needs. The powerful overall findings showed that on average, VHV sessions resulted in as beneficial or better outcomes when compared with the outcomes achieved through traditional visits.

Notably:

• Families and children receiving services via VHV had better language outcomes and auditory skills than children who received services through traditional in-person visits.
• Families receiving services via VHV were more engaged in the sessions than those families in the in-person sessions.

According to self-report measures:

• Families receiving VHV services felt equally supported, knowledgeable, and confident in fostering their child’s development as families who received traditional in-home services.

Thanks again for your loyal support! You are helping us reach more families with high quality early intervention services than ever before. 

Please enjoy this new video that demonstrates the impact of our work over the past 20 years: https://vimeo.com/110957761