Best Practices in Family-Centered Early Intervention for Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: An International Consensus Statement

TLDR

The study aimed to reach consensus on essential family‑centered early‑intervention principles for children who are deaf or hard of hearing and to promote their widespread implementation. A diverse international panel of parents, professionals, and researchers convened to identify, refine, and document ten family‑centered early‑intervention principles, producing a consensus statement with supporting evidence. The panel found that family‑centered principles were inconsistently applied across countries and ultimately agreed on ten foundational principles to guide practice.

Abstract

A diverse panel of experts convened in Bad Ischl, Austria, in June of 2012 for the purpose of coming to consensus on essential principles that guide family-centered early intervention with children who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH). The consensus panel included parents, deaf professionals, early intervention program leaders, early intervention specialists, and researchers from 10 nations. All participants had expertise in working with families of children who are D/HH, and focus was placed on identifying family-centered practice principles that are specific to partnering with these families. Panel members reported that the implementation of family-centered principles was uneven or inconsistent in their respective nations. During the consensus meeting, they identified 10 agreed-upon foundational principles. Following the conference, they worked to refine the principles and to develop a document that described the principles themselves, related program and provider behaviors, and evidence supporting their use (drawing upon studies from multiple disciplines and nations). The goal of this effort was to promote widespread implementation of validated, evidence-based principles for family-centered early intervention with children who are deaf and hard of hearing and their families.