A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Early Intervention and the Role of Parents in Language Development of Hearing Loss Children

Objectives: Deaf and hard-of-hearing children are slow in language development, and language deficits are common in hearing-impaired children. Here, all areas of the language, including syntax, morphology, phonology, semantic and pragmatic, are involved, and this leads to a deficiency in reading and academic skills. Evidence shows that through early intervention, we can minimize or eliminate problems of children with hearing loss. Early intervention teaches parents how to communicate with their disabled child. Methods: Internet search in databases including ISI Web of Knowledge, Embase and Pubmed from 1990 to 2014 was conducted. Key words such as children with hearing loss, deaf children, hard-of-hearing, family education program(s), early intervention, early detection, family’s approach, parent’s approach, and parent’s education program(s) were searched. Results: A total of 100 articles were initially found, and only 20 articles were finally selected for the study. The inclusion criteria for the study were as follows: the article should be interventional and written in English and should be published between 1990 and 2014. Discussion: Research showed the effectiveness of early intervention in the early development of language and vocabulary. In addition, early detection of hearing loss in the first 6 months of age has a positive impact on children and families interactions and consequently, on language and vocabulary development. The primary focus in the implementation of early intervention services is to reduce the negative effects of risk factors and facilitate optimum development over time. Finally, the combination of early diagnosis and early intervention for children with hearing impairment is necessary.