This scholarly resource provides guiding principles and strategies for early intervention professionals, education professionals, speech-language pathologists, and students working with deaf and hard of hearing infants, toddlers, and preschoolers and their families. The book takes a family-centered approach and supplements its broad research base with concrete suggestions and vignettes illustrating the experiences of early interventionists and parents of deaf and hard of hearing young children. It emphasizes viewing young deaf children and their families within community, cultural, and linguistic frameworks in order to evaluate their needs appropriately and to enhance the quality of services provided to them. Expert contributors equip readers with the solid research, key concepts, and current developments they'll need to know about as they establish partnerships with families and their deaf or hard of hearing children. Readers will:

• learn to consider the family, community, and cultural and linguistic contexts of young children with hearing loss.
• explore key language and communication issues, including parent-child interactions, early literacy development, and the impact of technology.
• look at specific educational factors, such as inclusive practices and the challenges of identifying and educating hearing impaired children with other disabilities.
• examine major family-centered issues, such as family rights, support, and advocacy.
• learn about available services for screening, assessment, intervention, educational programming, and program evaluation.
• gain valuable insight from research models that focus on early intervention, team approaches to early education, and early signs of literacy.