Home Language Access and Language Development in Deaf Children

Calling parents and caregivers of deaf and hard of hearing children!

You’re invited to participate in a research study about how deaf and hard of hearing children’s early language experiences are related to their later language skills. My name is Razi Zarchy, and I am a doctoral candidate in the PhD in Education and Leadership at Pacific University Oregon. I am conducting a study for my dissertation, researching the links between early language experiences and later language development. I would love to learn more from you about how deaf children acquire language!

This study may be a good fit if you:

• Are a primary caregiver of at least one deaf or hard of hearing child

• Are at least 18 years old

• Live in the United States

• Are fluent in written English, and either spoken English or American Sign Language

• Have good Internet access for a Zoom interview and to complete a survey form

And your child:

• Is 2 years to 12 years, 11 months old

• Has hearing levels anywhere from mild to profound in at least one ear

• Uses any hearing technology (hearing aids, cochlear implants, BAHAs) or none

All languages, communication modalities (spoken, signed, or cued), or other communication approaches are welcome. We are looking for a wide variety of communicators! Also, participating is voluntary. That means it’s up to you to decide whether or not to participate. If you do choose to participate, you can leave the study at any time.

Time commitment/your role:

• Complete a 10-minute survey about how old your child was when they met key language milestones, like their first words and two-word phrases

• Meet with me for a half-hour interview to build a profile of your child’s early language experiences. We will work together to estimate how much of the language in the home was accessible to your child in their early years of life.  

• You will have the option to participate in a follow-up interview 6 weeks later to repeat the profile-building process

Potential benefits to participating:

• When we’re done building your child’s language access profile together, you’ll get a PDF of the graphic we create

• You may learn a new way of thinking about language access and gain some new understanding of how your child’s language is developing

Interested? Take a brief survey to see if you qualify:

Just click bit.ly/LanguageProfileStudy or scan the QR code in the flyer above.

Questions?

Contact Razi Zarchy at razi.zarchy@pacificu.edu

This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Pacific University 058-25.