Course description: Understanding thoughts, emotions, and perspectives is critical for social and academic success. Sometimes referred to as “theory of mind,” these skills encompass a wide range of competencies within the cognitive domain (e.g., thoughts, beliefs, intentions, motivations) and the affective or emotional domain (e.g., feelings, empathy). Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) children have shown difficulties with aspects of theory of mind, thought to be tied to language difficulties arising from language deprivation. This presentation will describe how language and literacy skills support and interact with perspective-taking abilities for all children, focusing specifically on DHH children. Practical suggestions for language- and literacy-based activities that can support the development of theory of mind will be presented, outlining ways that speech-language pathologists and other educators can support these critical language, literacy, and perspective-taking abilities.
Agenda:
10 minutes: Background on theory of mind
15 minutes: Connection between language and theory of mind
15 minutes: Connection between literacy and theory of mind
30 minutes: Theory of mind and language for deaf children
20 minutes: Practical ways to support ToM for deaf children
Learner outcomes:
Participants will be able to:
Describe the relationship between theory of mind skills and language/literacy skills
Summarize the key findings from the literature about ToM development for DHH individuals
Provide at least three examples about how to support theory of mind skills for DHH learners through language and/or literacy interventions