Ready Steady Think! Parent Program

Ready Steady Think! Parent Program

Joanna McAdam
Veena Rai

Our Ready Steady Think! play based executive function skills program has been running since 2020. While this has been successful and popular for the 4-5 year olds it targets, parents have consistently asked for a program of their own, so they can learn more about this area of cognitive development. Here is what some of the latest research has to say about executive function and why hearing health professionals and parents of children with hearing loss should be interested in it:

  • Executive functions are essential for human achievement(Doebel and Muller 2023)​
  • Auditory deprivation [such as hearing loss and/or learning spoken language via technology such as hearing aids and cochlear implants] affects cognition in downstream ways (Kral et al 2016)​
  • There a special relationship between executive function and hearing loss (Kronenberger et al 2020)​
  • There a relationship between deaf learners and social maturity, and EF is  implicated (Marschark et al 2017)

We designed and ran a 4 week program specifically for parents, facilitated by our child and family counsellors, that focused on what executive functions are, how important they are for children with hearing loss and what development of skills looks like from birth to school age.

Parents joined once a week for an hour session online and learned some theory, some practical strategies to support EF and had opportunities to share and reflect with each other about their experiences with their own children. 

What was clear from the parent feedback is that while parents understand that this information is important, they are hungry to know specifically about the interaction of hearing loss and executive function but really want more practical strategies to use. Once they start thinking about the components of EF (working memory, flexibility in thinking, impulse control) and how these basic skills underpin so much of what makes us successful in life they wish they had known about them earlier.

Where to for the Ready Steady Think! Parent program?

Because it is vital that we provide programs that are relevant to families we have some work to do. While it is not quite ‘back to the drawing board’ for this program we will be paying very close attention to the feedback we have received and updating the content to reflect more of what the parents need for when we offer it in 2025. We will endeavor to find a better balance of theory and strategies for parents so they can feel more empowered to use the information straight away to support their children.

References:

Doebel S, and Müller U, (2023)The Future of Research on Executive Function and Its Development: An Introduction to the Special Issue Journal of Cognition and Developmenthttps://doi.org/10.1080/15248372.2023.2188946

Kral A, Kronenberger WG, Pisoni DB, O’Donoghue GM. Neurocognitive factors in sensory restoration of early deafness: a connectome model. Lancet Neurol. 2016 May;15(6):610-21. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(16)00034-X. Epub 2016 Mar 12. PMID: 26976647; PMCID: PMC6260790. ​
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Kronenberger WG, Xu H, Pisoni DB. Longitudinal Development of Executive Functioning and Spoken Language Skills in Preschool-Aged Children With Cochlear Implants. J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2020 Apr 27;63(4):1128-1147. doi: 10.1044/2019_JSLHR-19-00247. Epub 2020 Mar 23. PMID: 32204645; PMCID: PMC7242982. ​
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Marc Marschark, William G. Kronenberger, Mark Rosica, Georgianna Borgna, Carol Convertino, Andreana Durkin, Elizabeth Machmer, Kathryn L. Schmitz, Social Maturity and Executive Function Among Deaf Learners, The Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education, Volume 22, Issue 1, 1 January 2017, Pages 22–34, https://doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enw057 

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