Access to and Opportunities for Communication for Deaf Children in Early Parent-Child Interactions: A Multimodal Analysis of Communication in Joint Attention

Deaf and hearing children are sensitive to language and progress through similar developmental milestones when immersed in a language-rich environment. Access to and opportunities for communication, however, are often compromised for deaf children growing up in predominantly hearing and often non-signing family contexts. This leaves them at risk of language deprivation during the critical period for (language) development. Timely and consistent access to language and communication in parent-child interactions is therefore crucial, since these interactions form the early and immediate environment of children’s language learning and development.

Taking a social-constructivist approach, the present study explores multimodal communication during moments of joint attention in early parent-child interactions. More specifically, it investigates how individuals with different communicative experiences and resources use multimodal communication strategies in initiating and sustaining moments of joint attention.

Video-recorded data of play sessions between parents and children (9-24 months) who are severely to profoundly deaf were collected in collaboration with the Yorkshire Auditory Implant Service (YAIS) at Bradford Teaching Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust, United Kingdom. The play sessions were recorded at a stage in the paediatric assessment pathway that preceded (potential) cochlear implantation. Data from a total of eight parent-child dyads were analysed with ELAN, an annotation tool for audio and video recordings (ELAN, 2025). Multimodal communicative behaviour – auditory, visual, and/or tactile – was analysed within and discussed across individual dyads in relation to moments of joint attention, without aiming for a systematic comparison. Information collected during a semi-structured interview provided further context for analysis. Results showed that communication in joint attention was mediated by both the individual use and combination of accessible communicative resources as well as parents’ sensitivity to the child’s communicative cues and needs.

Moving away from predominantly language-driven approaches of the past, this study provides a template for systematic multimodal analysis of early parent-child interactions. It thereby not only reflects the multimodal nature of communication but also accounts for the individual context, as well as contingency, reciprocity and synchronicity in the process of making meaning in interaction.

The application of findings, emphasising individual resources rather than deficits, is relevant to early intervention with families and provides parents with evidence-based guidance on how to provide consistent access to and opportunities for communication in joint engagement with their child, especially during the critical period of the first years of life that form the building blocks for (language) development.