Families' Perceptions of Early Intervention Services for Children With Hearing Loss

Abstract

A national survey was distributed to families of preschool-age children who are deaf or hard of hearing in order to investigate parent's perceptions of family involvement in early intervention programs, as intended by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (formerly P.L. 99-457). Questions were organized into five categories: (1) the family's experiences with their early intervention program, (2) information provided by their early intervention program, (3) experiences in writing the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP), (4) demographic information concerning the family, and (5) demographic information concerning the child. Surveys were returned from all geographic regions of the United States, representing parents from a wide variety of backgrounds. Results indicate that although an IFSP had not been developed by almost one-half of the respondents, those who responded reported overall satisfaction with their early intervention program.