The Missing Link….
Web 2.0 social connector?
Created By: Yashi Poindexter 1
Table of
Introduction
Pg. 4
Pg. 8
Results
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Pg. 18
Methodology
Contents
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Pg. 27
Model Sites
Pg. 38
Abstract
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“When we found out our daughter was Deaf, we began early intervention services. There was no mention of the deaf community, ASL, or deaf schools and the resources they provided. The only deaf person we knew was our child. It was through our own search that we stumbled upon these valuable resources. After we made these connections, our family’s life became much easier, and our daughter’s language began to flourish. Deaf professionals employed in every level of EHDI services and the resources that deaf schools provide are a critical missing link in today’s early intervention programs. Parents deserve to have all the resources, information, and tools necessary to raise their deaf child. -Parent” (Benedict et al. 18-2).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5ZqKMgXciU
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Parents Online Presences
“nearly every parent acquired online information in the first hours and days after learning of the referral and before visiting treatment centers� (Decula et al. 881)
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WEB 2.0 OPENS COMMUNICATION FOR DEAF PEOPLE
Parents are using the Internet as a significant tool during their information gathering and decision making process.
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Target audience Parents of D/HH children
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Examples of Footprints Collected
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Examples of Deaf Adult Responses
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Data Collection
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Common Themes & Subthemes Common Themes
Subthemes
Deaf + Diagnosis Deaf School
IEP/504 Deaf Education
Mainstream/Oral Mistrust educators’ recommendations/Received wrong information
Hearing Assistive Technology
Cochlear Implants Hearing Aids ASL
Language
Bilingual Oral
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Common Themes
Subthemes HOH/Unilateral hearing loss
Medical Services
Medical Questions/Treatment effects questions Mistrust providers/Misdiagnosis Advice/What to do?
Networking
Diagnostic connection Newly Diagnosis Behavior issues
Socioemotional Development
Delay Parental concerns Social issues Deaf Adult
Social Construction of Deaf
Identity
Tactile Sensory Orientation Visual Stimuli
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TotalMentionFrequency
CommonThemes
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Deaf + Diagnosis
10
13.33%
Deaf Education
10
13.33%
Hearing Assistive Technology
30
40%
Language
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45.33%
Medical Services
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48%
Networking
70
93.33%
Socioemotional Development
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38.66%
Social Construction of Deaf
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46.66%
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Internal platform: use
manage, follow, like a
Use of visual medium to share knowledge
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ers
and comment.
Connects families to each other, individuals with autism, professionals, news/events, and recent relevant research. Encourages engagement with sharing visuals media. Building a sense of connection through joinable groups, a discussion forum, private messaging, user to user following and update notifications, Education and knowledge is shared through live & recorded expert lead Webinars and trainings.
This networking platform has features that generate revenue for the site. It highlights experts in the field as a way to share knowledge. Providers are available for collaboration.
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Paid Membership option. Different levels = Different features
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This site offers chatrooms and scheduled chats to increase outreach, communication, and support for families. Chatrooms allows for real time interactions and exchange, the ideal is model of a safe collaborative space. A space for parents to express, learn, and network.
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Compilation of Parent blogs focusing on CI
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Lack Interactive nature on the site itself, but includes Deaf adults CI users as members to build a connection with parents.
3rd party platform usage
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Educational institution created Question and answer style Dear Abby online platform to educating parents and others interested in Deaf youth. Using a one way, semi-interactive structured platform to spread new research findings and debunk myths.
Open to anyone who submits a question; Newest questions posted first; responders vary but all have knowledge of Deaf youth intervention needs toward success. The responds are thorough and well thought out with verifiable and reliable information
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An example of “Dear Abby style� platform: parent submitted question and response from NTID online admin. Semi-interactive, using hyperlinks and tagging systems for storage and searching purposes. No comment technology therefore responding is not an options
Open question submission option. Questions are submitted with a single click. One way interaction; very disconnected from Search box allows for old questions and topics to be found based on the theme of the question using hyper tags.
RIT /NTID Student Fact Sheet: https://www.rit.edu/ntid/fit/ritntidstudent-facts 35
Healthcare social site new outreach technology. Incorporates a create way to share relevant research and thoughts. Users are allowed to update statues, like and comment, private messaging, daily blogging, growing communities, build personalized networks.
Users create extensive profiles surrounding their needs. Internal daily blog, updates, & about me.
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Encourage users to update regularly. Promotes constant engagement. This site uses updates as data for research.
Peer-to-peer connecting. Seeing other users newsfeeds
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User status updates are presented in live newsfeed style of keeping engagement and encouraging participation. Newsfeeds present other followed users and communities status and post updates. This site has diagnosis based forum platforms, that allows for commenting and likes.
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This site uses the patients self reported information about their treatment, symptoms, and medical feedback as data to improve the field of healthcare and patientcare. The digital footprints left by each user is valued as social capital used to better understand patients diagnosis and everyday life experiences. Peer-reviewed research is shared with appropriate communities and users. Users are notified when new research is available. This science based site uses the most diverse communication technology tools.
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ABSTRACT Deaf adults are the missing link in the medical early intervention services provided to hearing parents of deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH) babies. Hearing parents of D/HH children are utilizing Web 2.0 new social capabilities to gather information, social support from other families of D/HH children, and engage with informed people about their child’s empirical existence. Deaf scholars and professionals are not utilizing Web 2.0’s social media technologies to its fullest capabilities to address the issues surrounding “the missing link” within early intervention. This methodology assesses parents as virtual producers. This research uses a mixed method approach to the ethnographic study of the digital footprints of parents of D/HH children in online forums and communities. This research assesses 75 footprints from three different online communities for parents of D/HH children. The descriptive analysis gained from natural observation assist in the development of counting the number of mentions for each theme and subtheme, which results in quantitative data. The quantitative data presents frequency of mentions of specific common themes and subthemes. Results suggest parents are most interested in engaging with both other hearing parents and Deaf adult online. Parents are seeking and using networking sites where they can express, comment, connect, and gain first-hand information. Parents are not shying away from a Deaf centric social site. Parents who are on Deaf centric sites raise more ASL related mentions, social cultural questions, and were specifically interested in feedback from a Deaf adult, than on hearing administrated sites. This research proposes the development of a Deaf centric social media learning platform targeting hearing parents of D/HH children with a specific focus on birth -3 families. The Deaf community should be using information communication technologies to establish a new social authority of the D/HH baby via Deaf adult in early intervention, to bypass the dependency on medical authority for inclusion.
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Bridging the Gap to the Missing Link: Web 2.0 as Tool for Social Inclusion
Yashimarae Poindexter
A THESIS
Submitted to the Department of Deaf Studies/ASL and the Graduate School of Gallaudet University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts
December 2017
Copyright Š 2017 Yashi Poindexter All rights reserved
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