Tips for Engaging a Child with cCMV

By Mary Ann Gray, Alabama H&V

As the days grow longer, most of us think about all the wonderful things that are about to happen. Spring is coming, longer sunny days, flowers blooming in gorgeous colors, and the list goes on. As a Teacher of the Deaf and a mother of a Deaf daughter with congenital cCMV, I think about the same things, but with a unique perspective. I serve deaf and hard of hearing children with a range of communication modes with multiple disabilities. They matter. It is a unique perspective with challenges that focus on providing opportunities across the developmental domains. The goal is to provide multisensory input, providing access to the world through integrating all the senses, as much as can be integrated depending on your child’s needs, especially language. Language is everything.

I have learned helpful strategies that can be used in and outside the classroom with young children that I want to share with parents and teachers. These strategies can be adapted depending on the child’s level of need. Take them and use them to benefit your child.

Be familiar with the child’s hearing loss and understand the implications regarding language, reading, writing, and socialization. A certified Teacher of the Deaf (TOD) will be able to explain the implications in more detail. With cCMV, it can be tricky since this condition can be progressive in nature. Knowing and watching for this can help in identifying any progression of hearing loss.

Understand the general developmental domains in your child. There are five:

• Cognitive: The way we think, learn, and solve problems
• Adaptive: The way we dress and care for our personal needs.
• Communication: How we understand language and how we express our wants and needs. Communication and turn-taking with familiar people are the foundation of language.
• Gross/Fine motor skills: Gross motor skills include crawling and walking and transitioning between positions. Fine motor skills (like using utensils or writing)
• Social-Emotional skills: The ability to interact with others, form relationships, and understand social cues and expectations.

Being familiar with these developmental milestones will help to identify where the child is currently performing and what steps need to be taken to provide the support needed. Once you know where the child is currently in these developmental areas, let the fun begin!

• Understand cCMV and know that the effects are unique to each child. The range can be from no visible effects to intense needs, including medical complexities. Teachers should have an in-service at the beginning of the school year or during summer professional development with a qualified person who can provide reliable and valid information concerning cCMV. This is a critical need for teachers. It should go under Support for Personnel in the Individual Educational Plan (IEP).
• Collaborate with the Physical Therapist (PT). The PT can help you with mobility aids and use of a walker, wheelchair, gait trainer, and functional positioning for your child. This is important because when a child is uncomfortable or feels unsafe, they cannot attend or participate, which does not make learning fun.
• Collaborate with the Occupational Therapist (OT). The OT can help with feeding concerns as well as writing and holding items. The OT can assist with evaluating a child for a communication device. This opens the door for the child to experience sensory activities, whether it is independently or with adult assistance.
• Collaborate with the Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). Along with feeding techniques, the SLP can work on speech, language, or alternative ways to help develop communication and language. Multiple methods may be beneficial.

More strategies:

• Creating adaptive books with varied materials, smells, and sounds can be an engaging experience for a child. I prefer books that are not always available for older children. With a few materials like sleeve protectors, Velcro, laminators, and computer images, you can make your child more than one experience or board book they will “read” with you repeatedly, enriching your child’s vocabulary and understanding of the world.
• A Promethean Board or whiteboard can be a powerful source for engaging the students in reading. If you do not have access to a Promethean Board, you can use a large screen television and a projector or a large monitor. You can play a story online with captioning or the reader signing in ASL. This provides access to a larger format with the ability to pause to expand on the story or point something to the child and explain. There is also the technology to have descriptive reading happen during the movie or video (See DCMP.org)
• Pre-planning activities based on what is going on in the class and sharing the plans with parents can promote trust and cohesiveness between school and home communication. Parents can find opportunities at home or other natural environments to engage their child with experiences from the story as an extension to learning. A few ideas could include reading. Example, Goodnight, Gorilla and taking the child to the zoo. If you have an adaptive book, then the child could experience different textures, match words, sign words of the animals, follow up with a banana for snack (or touch and smell), or an art activity. The list of fun activities related to school and books is infinite.

My final strategy… Love what you do and believe in our kids! As an educator, mom and now an educational advocate, I think this might be the most important tip. As an educator, understand what cCMV is and do not be afraid of it, just informed. Connect with other advocates. Best tip of all: give yourself grace. ~

H&V Communicator – Spring 2026