Browsing by Autor "Greg Leigh"

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First Information Parents Receive After UNHS Detection of Their Baby's Hearing Loss
(Oxford University Press, 2012) Liesbeth Matthijs; Gerrit Loots; Kimberley Mouvet; Mieke Van Herreweghe; Stefan Hardonk; Geert Van Hove; Martine Van Puyvelde; Greg Leigh
The first information parents receive after referral through Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) has significant consequences for later care-related decisions they take and thus for the future of the child with a hearing loss. In this study, 11 interviews were conducted with a representative sample of Flemish service providers to discover (a) the content of the information provided to parents and (b) the service providers' assumptions and beliefs concerning deafness and care. To do this, we conducted an interpretative phenomenological analysis, followed by a discourse analysis. Results showed that parents receive diverse information, depending on the reference center to which they are referred. Moreover, all service providers used a medical discourse. We suggest that there is value to be gained from closer consideration of the nature of follow-up services provided in response to UNHS in Flanders and from auditing the professional preparation of service providers that are involved in providing information to parents.
Mothers of Deaf Children in the 21st Century. Dynamic Positioning Between the Medical and Cultural–Linguistic Discourses
(Oxford University Press, 2018) Liesbeth Matthijs; Stefan Hardonk; Jasmina Sermijn; Martine Van Puyvelde; Greg Leigh; Mieke Van Herreweghe; Gerrit Loots
Mothers of Deaf Children in the 21st Century. Dynamic Positioning Between the Medical and Cultural–Linguistic Discourses
(Oxford University Press, 2017) Liesbeth Matthijs; Stefan Hardonk; Jasmina Sermijn; Martine Van Puyvelde; Greg Leigh; Mieke Van Herreweghe; Gerrit Loots
Traditional research examining the communicational choices made by families with deaf children tends to emanate from the premise that families engage with either of the two grand discourses on deafness (i.e., the medical or cultural-linguistic perspective). This study investigated hearing mother's engagement with the educational options for their child from a dynamic, poststructural perspective. Three Flemish mothers were interviewed in-depth at the child's ages of 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months. The data were analyzed within a theoretical model that describes the positioning process of the mothers. This method yielded alternative explanations for former findings concerning mothers' decision-making processes, especially the difficulty of learning sign language as a second language in an effort to provide a bilingual-bicultural education, and highlighted the importance of having rich experiences. It further showed that a bilingual-bicultural position was scarcely available and poorly supported for these mothers. These findings are discussed in relation to recent international consensus statements on best practices in early intervention.