Early intervention using a bilingual / bicultural approach to homework problems for children with hearing impairment from the parents' and specialist's point of view

The present study aimed to identify the problems of homework faced by deaf and hard of hearing children, and to compare the gravity of homework problems between the two categories. In addition, the study sought to identify the impact of age, social status, financial status and level of education of parents on homework problems, and the effect of children’s age and case improvement as key variables. The study is significant as it provides female teachers with modern methods for their hearing-impaired preschoolers, through a bi-lingual / bi-cultural model of early intervention to develop activity management for deaf and hard-of-hearing children. The study employed the following research tools: homework problems checklist, and Parent Satisfaction scale. The study sample consisted of (30) kindergarten female teachers, and (410) parents. The results found that there is a significant difference in the level of occurrence of homework problems among children according to the personal variables of parents, age, social status, financial status, and educational level. There is a statistically significant difference in the level of occurrence of homework problems according to the following variables: child's ability, health status, and continuity of treatment. In light of the results, the study emphasized the importance of further pre-and in-service training and induction programs for kindergarten teachers, that focus on early intervention practices used in deaf children to increase the level of their experiences and perceptions, especially as the current strategies rely on technical activities and suffer from a clear deficiency. The study proposed a suggested alternative framework.