Few research-based family studies have focused specifically on the perceptions of African American hearing parents' use of home literacy strategies. This study was conducted with a small group of African American families, taking into account family's individual literacy needs (African American hearing families with deaf/hard of hearing [DHH] children), African-American culture and language, emergent literacy research, American Sign Language (ASL), and parent-child book reading strategies. The purpose of this study was to document parental perception of the literacy process, while establishing opportunities for parents to practice under the guidance of mentors and within the home environment. Recordings documented parental progress and their comments about the reading process. Field notes were generated from the mentors' discussions with parents. This exploratory case study identified changes in parental perception of communication and literacy development during a nine-week intervention and records their reactions to those support strategies.
An eighteen-month-old holds a book about shoes in their tiny hands, sitting across from a smiling parent. The book is upside down, but the child seems not to notice. “Is that your shoe?”, the parent asks as the toddler tugs at the sock. “That’s not your shoe. That’s your sock on your foot. Where’s your shoe?” The child smiles back. The parent looks quizzically at the child trying to determine whether the toddler wants a shoe or whether the child knows where shoes are worn. “Shoe”, the child repeats opening the book and beginning to turn the pages.
This scenario depicts an interaction between a hearing parent and a child who is not deaf. This type of pre-reading interaction (interaction with texts) is one in which many parents can visualize themselves as participants. Unfortunately, that is not always the case in situations involving deaf children of hearing parents (DOHP).
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African American deaf children continue to experience delays in reading development relative to their non-minority peers in literacy development (Bowman et al., 2018; Myers, et al., 2010). Later reading achievement is doubly impacted by race and hearing loss among this population group (Cohen, 1993). Parents are primary literacy models for their children. They provide initial insight into how the child sees and interacts with written texts. When a parent is unable to provide clarity of instruction due to communication challenges, the child’s literacy acquisition is hampered. Many hearing parents face challenges in acquiring the sign language skills necessary to communicate sufficiently to support the academic development of their deaf children. African American parents may feel uncomfortable with the prospect of requesting support or be unaware of outside available resources. While research may focus on the needs of the DHH child, and the benefit of early literacy strategies on their development, additional research needs to address the perspective of the parent(s).
Parental perception plays an important role in the motivation of parents to interact with their DHH child using sign language as a literacy tool. Parental perception plays an important part in parental interaction with school personnel. Can African American hearing parents see themselves as literacy and language models for their DHH children? Do African American hearing parents see themselves as advocates for their child’s academic and literacy development? Can a literacy intervention with a culturally focused base alter African American parents’ perception of their communication relationship with their DHH child? The purpose of this chapter is to describe parental perceptions of the book sharing process and to provide literacy-based and literature-based strategies in a culturally sensitive manner to assist the parents in their child’s literacy development.