Parental involvement in the care and intervention of children with hearing loss.

The sample was small and selected to show different experiences, with 17 parents from 10 families, so the themes may not cover all parents of children with hearing loss. Families were selected from a larger cohort and required the child to have a nonverbal cognitive ability score of 85 or higher and educational intervention over the past 3 years, so results may not apply to children with lower cognitive scores or no recent educational intervention. Parents who volunteered appeared to be actively involved, so the study may not describe families with less involvement. Some accounts were retrospective, so parents' current descriptions of past involvement may not match what they would have reported at the time. Children were attending primary school and had received early intervention, so the findings may not apply to older children or families not yet in school. The study reported experiences and themes, not child outcomes, so it cannot show that any parental behaviour improved speech, language, or academic results. The first author was blinded to participant and child outcome data, but the researchers were allied health professionals and acknowledged potential bias.

The supplied publication types list NIH and non-U.S. government research support. No author conflict declaration is included in the supplied text.

Do not treat these themes as proof that parental involvement causes better speech or language outcomes. The study interviewed 17 parents from 10 families and reported their experiences, not child outcome data.