Best Practices in Family-Centered Early Intervention for
Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: An International Consensus Statement.
June 2014
Many professionals think they know what is meant by ‘best practice’ and ‘family-centred early intervention’. However, interpretations tend to be based on an individual’s beliefs and philosophies rather than rooted in evidence hence there is no real shared understanding therefore implementation has varied widely.
The 1st International Conference on Family-Centred Early Intervention for Children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (2012, Austria) led to the production of an international consensus statement on best practices to ensure optimum outcomes for young deaf children. Its goal was to agree validated, evidence-based foundational principles taking into account the different interpretations, language and cultural models that could be applied and to promote the widespread implementation of these principles. This consensus statement was developed by a diverse panel comprising parents, Deaf professionals, early intervention programme leaders, early intervention providers and researchers from ten countries. It was then drafted in writing by a core panel of four with a wider international reference group……