1. Age of Intended Audience: 18 and up
The Effects of Symbolic Play on Language Development in Children Who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing
Age of Intended Audience: 18 and up
Objectives:
Provide an introduction of the important role that play has on the development of language.
Provide examples of how the development of play and language differ between children with a hearing impairment and their normal hearing peers.
Describe the impact that caregivers have on their child’s development.
Doing the research for this project left me with so much information. Based on the discussion we had in class about symbolic play, I decided to focus my presentation on the actual relationship between the development of language and play rather than the stages of play.
Abstract: This product was designed to inform professionals and families about the effects of symbolic play . Through understanding, caregivers and professionals alike can provide an appropriate model for both language and play by knowing the natural order of development.

2. Between hearing children and those with a hearing loss…
The relationship between symbolic play and language development is similar:
13 mos. = play is related to receptive language, not so much expressive.
20 mos. = the amount of expressive language is equal to play.
2 ½ yrs. = language skills lead the development of play.
There is a small catch though, even though children with a hearing loss develop language in the same sequential format, children with normal hearing tend to develop these relationships at an earlier age.

3. Still lagging!
Deaf (D) children still lag in their comprehension and expression of language.
They lack full access to communicative information.
Degree of loss affects awareness of spoken communication forms.
Even though hearing and D children develop similarly in symbolic play, deaf children still lag in their comprehension and expressive skills. Unlike children with other disabilities, the language delays that occur in children who are D occur because of a lack of full access to communicative information. As would be expected, a child’s degree of loss may have an effect on the child’s ability to be aware of the forms of communication spoken by others.

4. What is the big deal about play?
The communication that occurs in play requires children to know what to communicate, how to communicate, and to understand other’s communication.
Research shows that by months of age, there is a strong relationship between the development of play and the development of communicative gesture and language comprehension in children with a hearing loss.

5. Symbolic vs. Non-Symbolic?
Non-symbolic play was found to have no bearing on later communication abilities.
Symbolic play is related to various aspects of early language development in children that are D/HOH.
Not all play is beneficial for the development of language. (Slide). On the other hand… (Slide). Symbolic play is said to make greater cognitive demands than non-symbolic play and is considered an important indicator of a child’s increasing cognitive competence. Symbolic play can also provide evidence to a child’s ability to organize their behavior using an internal set of rules and cognitive relationships.

6. Hearing Impaired Children and Their Play Behaviors
Less likely to identify a specific role.
More likely to use real objects.
Show little evidence of planning.
More repetitive in their play behavior.
Compared to their hearing peers, Children with a hearing impairment are…(Slide). Their lack of creativity may make them seem less interesting to play with by their hearing peers. As a result, they are left with a poor foundation for the development of friendships and social peer groups.

7. Environmental Factors
Dyad Hearing Status
Deaf children of deaf mothers have similar language abilities as hearing children of hearing mothers.
Hearing mothers of deaf children lack the responsiveness conducive of child language.
Even though there are many environmental factors that affect a child’s development, I though it would be interesting to present how the hearing status of a specific mother-child dyad can affect the development of play and language. Based on research of dyad hearing status, Deaf children of deaf mothers have similar language abilities has hearing children of hearing mothers. However, hearing mothers of deaf children tend to lack the responsiveness conducive of child language. Even when spoken language is used, hearing mothers have a hard time modeling language skills to their child. This is said to be because the child’s inability to use expressive language effectively may influence mother-child interaction by affecting the mothers communication strategy.

8. Ideas to Keep in Mind
Provide structured play scenarios during early development.
Guide and encourage parents to use pretend play as a context for interaction with their child.
Encourage parents to refer to events that occurred in the past.
As we already know, there are many ways in which an EI program can be run. However, for this presentation, the following suggestions deal with the development of play. First, professionals should provide structured play materials so that younger children may have more opportunities to represent their ideas in play. For example, by playing “store” a child is able to present and practice their personal interaction skills, verbal communication, and make-believe with defined toy objects. Second, guide and encourage parents to use pretend play as a context for interaction with their child. And third, because hearing impaired children mostly talk about a current action rather than an action that can occur in the past or the future, we should encourage parents to refer to events which occurred in the past so that they can help develop their child’s cognitive and language skills.

9. Parents: The First Teachers
Teach parents the hierarchy of symbolic play.
Through all of our studies, we are constantly told that parents are their child’s first teacher. As interventionist, we can assist our parents by teaching them the hierarchy of symbolic play so they they are able to scaffold various models of symbolic play behaviors for their child which leads to more rapid progress. By taking advantage of scaffolding interactions, a child can advance his/her play abilities by being able to understand a suggestion provided by a caregiver, submitting the suggestion to memory, and then using it again at a later date.

10. References
Bornstein, M.H., Selmi, A.M., Haynes, D.M., Painter, K.M., & Marx, E.S. (1999). Representational abilities and the hearing status of child-mother dyads. Child Development, 70(4),
Brown, P.M., Prescott, S.J., Rickards, F.W., & Paterson, M.M. (1999). Communicating about pretend play: A comparison of the utterances of 4-year-old normally hearing and deaf or hard of hearing children in an integrated kindergarten. Volta Review, 99(1), 5-17.
Brown, P.M., Rickards, F.W., & Bortoli, A. (2001). Structures underpinning pretend play and word production in young hearing children and children with hearing loss. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, 6(1),
Lyytinen, P., Laakso, M., Poikkeus, A., & Rita, N. (1999). The development and predictive relations of play and language across the second year. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 40,

11. References
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Morelock, M.J., Brown, P.M., & Morrissey, A. (2003). Pretend play and maternal scaffolding: Comparisons of toddlers with advanced development, typical development, and hearing impairment. Roeper Review, 26(1),
Schick, B., de Villiers, J., de Villiers, P., & Hoffmeister, B. (2002, December 3). Theory of mind: Language and cognition in deaf children. The ASHA Leader, 7(22),
Snyder, L.S. & Yoshinaga-Itano, C. (1998). Specific play behaviors and the development on communication in children with hearing loss. Volta Review, 100(3),
Spencer, P.E. (1996). The association between language and symbolic play at two years: Evidence from deaf toddlers. Child Development, 67,

12. References
Umek, L.M. & Musek, P.L. (2001). Symbolic play: Opportunities for cognitive and language development in preschool settings. Early Years, 21(1),
Yoshinaga-Itano, C., Snyder, L.S., & Day, D. (1998). The relationship of language and symbolic play in children with hearing loss. Volta Review, 100(3),