Toward Language Thrivation
The Parent and Child Journey
By Karen Putz, H&V Headquarters
“Mrs. Putz, your child currently scores in the 15th percentile for language development. We are concerned because he’s in kindergarten and doesn’t know what a penguin is.”
I was sitting alone at what I thought would be another routine IEP meeting for my third child. My husband didn’t come to this one because, you know, third child. No surprises, right?
My first reaction inside was defensiveness. Of course he didn’t know what a penguin was–we hadn’t gone to the zoo and shown him one! None of the books we read him had penguins in them. All the hours he spent in front of the TV–not a single show had a penguin in them…at least not that I could recall.
The words hit me hard. Deep down, I knew it was coming. Despite three years of preschool and a family fluent in both sign and spoken language, my youngest child wasn’t following the pattern of my other two kids whose vocabulary rivaled adults.
My husband came home with a newspaper article a few weeks before the meeting.
“Do you think he has autism?”
I read the article and considered it. My youngest had a strong preference for certain clothes (he wore shorts to school—even in winter) and routines. He had a hard time making eye contact with others. He insisted on macaroni and cheese and chicken nuggets —often refusing to even try new foods. Yet, he didn’t score high enough on the CARS checklist for autism.
Fifteenth percentile.
What went wrong?
There was no time to play Monday morning quarterback—we needed a plan to move ahead. The team and I came up with a plan to radically increase my child’s language development. We agreed to work together and communicate regularly.
My husband and I had a good, long talk about where WE were dropping the ball for our kid. At that point, we had four kids—5, 7, 9 and a teenager (my niece), and I was working part-time at the local college in the evenings. We were totally strapped for time and often in four directions at once. All too often, the youngest one was strapped along for the ride while we rushed from one activity to the next.
We restructured some of our routines and took a deep dive into language immersion. More reading. More explaining. More introduction of new words. We piggybacked on to the learning that was happening at school. I hit the library and came home with stacks of new books and audio books. We practiced reading, signing, and listening skills. I plastered index cards in new areas of the house. We baked and did math with new measurements of ingredients. We played for fun and with purpose—everything was an opportunity to increase engagement and development.
The shift worked. At the next IEP meeting, the team was beaming. My child was in the 82nd percentile for language.
Just what is “Language Thrivation?”
For over 15 years, I worked with families in early intervention from birth to three years of age. I joined Hands & Voices in 2004, launching the Illinois chapter with a group of parents and professionals. My work and volunteer work enabled me to meet and interact with a variety of families and Deaf/Hard of hearing children of all ages. Families using every possible method/mode of communication.
There were kids who were way behind. And kids who were way ahead.
While research tends to point to a singular solution (this or that communication choice, technology choice, educational placement, etc.), at Hands & Voices, we understand that the journey is far more complex than what research shows. Take a look at the various factors that influence outcomes:
- Age of onset/diagnosis
- Family dynamics
- Available resources
- Family rituals/cultural impact
- Family practices
- Commitment
- Exposure to new modes of communication
- Communication access
- Child’s personality
- Role models
- Daily living
- Educational system
- Additional challenges in the child/ family
- And finally…
- The child.
No two children are alike. What works for one, may not work for another. The complexity of the journey is also impacted by ever-changing dynamics in daily life—emotions, feelings, and experiences, both in the family and within the child. The various dynamics together, impact the language experience that unfolds on the journey.
In her article, “Wordsmithing the Journey,” Hands & Voices Executive Director Janet DesGeorges shared her feelings about the term Language Deprivation:
“After attending a conference where the term ‘language deprivation’ was used so many times I wanted to crawl under my chair, I sat in a lobby and talked to some colleagues about how that made me feel as a parent. I KNOW I needed to ensure good language development in my child, I KNOW I needed to provide good language and communication access as early as possible, but somehow those words brought feelings of shame and judgment about my parenting.”
So, just what is “Language Deprivation”? Let’s dig deeper into the wordsmithing:
Here’s a definition by Dr. Wyatt Hall, Research Assistant Professor at the Departments of OB/Gyn, Pediatrics, Neurology, and Public Health Sciences at the University of Rochester:
“Language deprivation occurs due to a chronic lack of full access to a natural language during the critical period of language acquisition (when there is an elevated neurological sensitivity for language development), approximately the first five years of a child’s life.”
The first five years of life represent the critical period of development for optimal language development and cognitive stimulation. For families who are new to a journey with a Deaf/Hard of Hearing child, there’s a learning curve as parents learn unfamiliar terminology and face decisions while trying to adjust to the unexpected path in their life.
There’s also the unpredictable nature of hearing levels on an audiogram and how this translates to real life moments. What a child hears/accesses/understands in one situation may be completely inaccessible/not understood in another.
For every piece of research that’s out there, you can often find research that supports an opposite stance–making it even harder for families to go through the decision-making process early in the journey.
The term “Language Thrivation” came about during one of our weekly Deaf and Hard of Hearing Infusion meetings at Hands & Voices. I was trying to figure out a positive way to describe an experience in which a family feels supported on the journey in much the same way my team rallied around our family when my son was so behind on language development. During one of the meetings I said, “Language Thrivation is a philosophy, a way of life in which we adjust as our kids grow and develop, using the resources that allow our children to thrive on the journey.”
That’s exactly what we aim to cultivate at Hands & Voices—to rally around our families with 360 degrees of support so that Deaf and Hard of Hearing children THRIVE on their journey. It takes a village to do that—a diverse village that is willing to come together and be there, no matter what, when the journey twists and turns.
As Kathy Buckley, a deaf/hard of hearing comedian says, “Every child should be able to express what’s in their heart.” That’s language thrivation! ~
Editor’s note: Karen Putz is a past Co-Director of Deaf/Hard of hearing Infusion at Hands & Voices. See the sidebar to this article – Toward Language Thrivation: The Parent and Child Journey – for practical ideas to bring language thrivation into the journey
H&V Communicator – Winter 2022