Very
little is known about the language environments of children in the United
States in non-English-speaking homes. There is currently no published
research that analyzes deaf or hard of hearing children in Spanish-speaking
households, although the Colorado Home Intervention Program demographics
indicate that these households account for 10 to 15% of the population of
children who are deaf or hard of hearing. In other geographic regions in the
United States, it is likely that the population of deaf and hard of hearing
children from Spanish-speaking homes is considerably larger. The
Spanish-speaking population in the United States has grown considerably
within the last 5 to 10 years and will continue to expand. For these children
to receive adequate treatment, research must be conducted to understand their
language environment. The Language ENvironment Analysis (LENA) System uses a
small recording device to collect, analyze, and sort a child’s language
environment into multiple categories and analyzes variables such as child
vocalizations, adult words, and conversational turn taking. The normative
data for the LENA System are from families who are English-speaking. The
article demonstrates the feasibility of using the LENA System to gain
understanding of the language environment of a child who is deaf or hard of
hearing in a Spanish-speaking household.
