Communication Opportunities

“Any way you language is beautiful.” - Jon Henner

Language is essential for your child’s brain development! It stimulates the brain to make connections and lays the foundation for reading and writing. All languages are valuable and communicating with your child is what’s most important.

Hearing differences can impact language and communication. Exploring different ways your child can communicate is an important next step. Understanding communication opportunities—ways to approach communication—can help you support your child’s language development from the start.

Discovering what works best for your child may take time. As your child grows and you learn more, your plans may shift. There’s no perfect path, only the one that fits your child best with full access to communication.

Opportunities, Not Options

When thinking about how your child will communicate, the word opportunities is used with care. Options can seem like you have to pick just one “right” choice for communication. But opportunities encourage you to explore, combine, and adapt communication approaches based on what works best for your child.

Every child and family is unique, and there isn’t one “right” way to communicate. It’s about finding what works best for your child and your family. You don’t need to feel limited to a single choice; be open to the many opportunities.

How Hearing Differences Affect Communication

The impact of hearing differences is as unique as each child themselves. How much a hearing difference affects communication for your child can depend on things like:

• The type, degree, and configuration of their hearing levels.
• Your family’s involvement in your child’s language development.
• The age your child became deaf or hard of hearing.
• The age when your child’s hearing levels were diagnosed.
• The age when your child and family began early intervention, how often it occurred, and the quality of intervention provided.

Considering Communication Opportunities

There are many ways to approach communication. Keep in mind that no one approach is best for all children and no one communication opportunity is better than another.

Communication can be approached as a single language with or without cues or as a combination of multiple languages. The following videos put out by the Maine Educational Center for the Deaf can be helpful in exploring communication opportunities.

Video Resources

Communication and Language Opportunities: ELCO Introduction

Listening and Spoken Language - Auditory Verbal: ELCO Overview

Listening and Spoken Language - Auditory Oral: ELCO Overview

Cued Language: ELCO Overview

Bilingual/Bimodal: ELCO Overview

Manually Coded English: ELCO Overview

American Sign Language: ELCO Overview

Early Communication Ideas

Language and communication are essential from the very beginning! If your child is a baby, one of the most important things you can do right now is respond to their cues and encourage them to engage with you. These early interactions lay the foundation for strong language development. If your child is older, it’s important to continue supporting their communication by ensuring they have consistent access to language and opportunities to grow their skills in ways that work best for them.

Communication begins long before words so start connecting with your baby now! Much of what we share comes through nonverbal cues like facial expressions, gestures, and body language. Bonding happens naturally through face-to-face moments, playful interactions, and everyday routines. Your baby is already learning to understand you by watching your face and body, even if they can’t hear your spoken words. Here are some tips for early communication:

• Interact face-to-face.
• Use facial expressions that match your words and actions.
• Make eye contact.
• Respond to your child’s facial expressions.
• Use gestures and hand movements.

More Information

For more information on communication opportunities, including resources to support each opportunity, visit Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Family Communication Resources.