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Joint Attention and Social Competence in Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants

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Abstract

The authors examined the influence of cochlear implants on joint attention and social competence in severe to profoundly congenitally deaf toddlers. Twenty-seven hearing mothers and hearing toddlers (HH dyads), and 26 hearing mothers and deaf toddlers, 9 with cochlear implantation (HD-cochlear dyads), and 17 with no cochlear implantation (HD-no cochlear dyads) were observed engaging in joint attention. Mothers provided ratings of children’s social competence. HH and HD-cochlear dyads displayed more joint attention than HD-no cochlear dyads. Children who were in dyads who engaged in more joint attention were rated by their mothers as higher on expressive and compliance behaviors and lower on disruptive behaviors compared to children who were in dyads who engaged in lower levels of joint attention. Findings suggest that cochlear implants may aid in the early socio-emotional development of some deaf children.

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Notes

  1. Child Initiation Acts were intentional nonverbal and verbal acts directed toward the mother by the child for the purpose of getting, directing, or sharing in, the mother’s attention to an object or event (Hundert et al. 1998, Prendergast and McCollum 1996; Tasker and Schmidt 2008).

  2. Maternal Initiation Acts were either intentional and active attempts by the mother to get, direct, and share in the child’s attention to a particular object or event on which the child was presently focused (Tasker and Schmidt 2008) or were active attempts by the mother to follow into and mutually share the child’s present focus of attention through the use of verbal and nonverbal communication directed towards the child and/or the child’s focus of attention (Hundert et al. 1998).

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Acknowledgements

The first and second authors contributed equally to the writing of this paper. The first author is now at the University of Victoria. Portions of this paper were based the first author’s doctoral work conducted under the direction of Louis A. Schmidt and submitted to the School of Graduate Studies at McMaster University. This research was supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada awarded to Louis A. Schmidt. The authors would like to thank the parents and their children, the Regional Coordinators and teachers of the Ontario Provincial Schools Preschool Home Visiting Program, Celia Hsiao for her help with behavioral coding, and Dr. Saroj Saigal for her guidance and comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada

    Matilda E. Nowakowski & Louis A. Schmidt

  2. Department of Educational Psychology and Leadership Studies, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, V8T 2H2, Canada

    Susan L. Tasker

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  1. Susan L. Tasker
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  2. Matilda E. Nowakowski
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  3. Louis A. Schmidt
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Correspondence to Louis A. Schmidt.

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Tasker, S.L., Nowakowski, M.E. & Schmidt, L.A. Joint Attention and Social Competence in Deaf Children with Cochlear Implants. J Dev Phys Disabil 22, 509–532 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-010-9189-x

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