The Missing Link: Connecting Hearing Parents of Deaf Children to Resources that Re-center Language Access Decisions Around Their Deaf Child

Author

Ella Stromberg

Date of Award

5-16-2025

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

M. Diane Clark

Second Advisor

Marina Dzougoutov

Third Advisor

Geoffrey Whitebread

Abstract

Countless DHH children around the world experience language deprivation (National Association of the Deaf, n.d.). The deprivation of language severely impacts on a child’s comprehension and communication, limiting essential information for growth; in contrast, a hearing child would have advantageous access. Language deprivation occurs when parents cannot access or are unaware about resources to make educated decisions that center around their child (National Association of the Deaf, n.d.). This three-section project examines the experience of a Deaf individual born into a hearing family with no structural language access until his teenage years, highlighting the long-term impact of limited language exposure and the need for systemic change. The first section is a literature review on modern research regarding language deprivation, the bilingual-bimodal (BB) approach to language acquisition. This project includes critical aspects of language delay, citing dinner table syndrome and lack of incidental learning within language deprived DHH children. This project also examines research published during the 1970s–my father’s critical development period–alongside a perspective on hearing devices, and the Deaf community’s perspective on language acquisition. The second is a series of artifacts from my father’s oral history that aids readers better understand the impact of limited language access. And finally, the third is a professional report and collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of the Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing (MODDHH) and D.C.’s Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) program. The project leads to a brochure for parents to access, constructed in a concise, user-friendly showcase as presentation material. This project aims to inspire systemic change and improve resource accessibility for parents of DHH children across the country.

Recommended Citation

Stromberg, Ella, "The Missing Link: Connecting Hearing Parents of Deaf Children to Resources that Re-center Language Access Decisions Around Their Deaf Child" (2025). Undergraduate University Honors Capstones. 133.
https://ida.gallaudet.edu/honors_capstones/133