Applying Descriptive Information About Families ' Decision Making

A qualitative methodology was employed to provide descriptive information about families’ decision-making experiences, with both phenomenological and grounded theory approaches used to examine data generated through semi structured interviews. Both the descriptive and summative information provide a framework for understanding and integrating the complex factors that shape family experiences throughout the decision-making process. The results reflect a family-centered view of the process of decision-making, informing early interventionists and professional training programs, with the potential to shape best-practices.
Method
Participants
Families were recruited through three early intervention (Part C) coordinators and four mid-Atlantic early intervention programs, including two schools for the deaf. Families who met the following criteria were referred to the study: (a) their child was identified through the newborn hearing screening process and enrolled in early intervention services by six months of age; (b) their child was between 10-18 months at the time of recruitment; (c) the parent/s in the family were hearing and English-speaking.
It was presumed that the context shaping the decision-making would be substantively different for parents who were D/deaf themselves both in terms of how they may view the identification process (Young & Tattersall, 2007) and the social-emotional and communicative context in which decisions are made (Vaccari & Marschark, 1997). Likewise…