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Abstract

Consistent with a position statement of the Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH, 2007), several key organizations and groups have supported involving deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) adults in Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) systems, including providing families of children who are DHH with opportunities to interact with adults who are DHH. This article reviews the available data on the involvement of adults who are DHH in EHDI systems to determine the availability of opportunities for families who have children who are DHH to interact with adults who are DHH, how families feel about these experiences, and to describe the programs that exist to provide these experiences. The article is based on results from three separate national surveys which included responses from parents and from EHDI related programs and organizations. Results showed that about half of parents with children who are DHH wanted opportunities to interact with adults who are DHH, but often experienced difficulty accessing these connections. Also, the variety of these services were too limited, and that programs that promote involvement of adults who are DHH need more funding to provide these services to families.

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