Minnesota Department of Health Newborn & Child Follow-Up Unit (2015). Secondary Data Requested by Wilder Research for the Needs Assessment for Families with Young Children (Age 0-6) Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing. Unpublished Report.

has been cited by the following article:

• TITLE: The Deaf Mentor Program: Benefits to Families

  AUTHORS: Beth Hamilton, M. Diane M. Clark

  KEYWORDS: Deaf Mentor, Deaf Crit, Early Intervention, Medical & Socio-Cultural Perspectives, Grounded Theory

  JOURNAL NAME: Psychology, Vol.11 No.5, May 28, 2020

  ABSTRACT: Most Deaf children are born to hearing parents, who have little to no experience with Deaf people, their language, or their culture. These parents struggle with how to raise a Deaf infant who responds primarily to visual rather than auditory information. A program called Deaf Mentors was developed to connect these hearing families with a Deaf adult who is trained in how to effectively help parents learn visual strategies and if desired sign language to facilitate early language acquisition. This study, using a grounded theory methodology, investigated the perceptions of hearing families who had a Deaf Mentor. Results found that these Deaf Mentors helped families create a context that provided the Keys to a High Quality of Life for Deaf Children. Importantly, the program provided a new perspective that allowed families to understand that their Deaf child was different but not broken.