Successful Intervention with Bilingual Children and Families

The unique challenges of working with bilingual children and families will be reviewed, along with suggested approaches to particularly complex families. Encouraging findings on multilingual proficiency will be presented. Using a published model to individualize treatment based upon child/family characteristics, we will describe a variety of approaches that are feasible within the constraints in which we work. Guidelines for managing children with cochlear implants who are learning multiple languages will be provided and supported by published research. The importance of the "mother tongue" as an essential part of parent/infant bonding will be reinforced. Both presenters work extensively with bilingual children and honor informed clinical experience and practicality in their suggested techniques. They will highlight their work with bilingual children using cochlear implants and their families by showing video clips that illustrate the range of approaches available for developing listening and spoken language in this challenging yet rewarding group of children.