New research projects examine communication of children with hearing devices and speech-generating devices in early childhood education and care
How can children with and without hearing loss communicate, play and learn together on equal terms right from the beginning? This question is at the heart of two new research projects led by Ulla Licandro. She is professor of Heterogeneity and Diversity with Special Consideration of Inclusive Educational Processes at the Institute of Special Needs Education and Rehabilitation at the University of Oldenburg and member of the Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all.connects.
The first project, “KOMMIT-talk: Peer Communication in Everyday Life at Early Childhood Education and Care – Patterns of Participation among Children with Hearing Devices and Speech-Generating devices”, investigates how children with and without disabilities interact during play and everyday activities in inclusive early childhood education and care settings. Licandro leads the project together with Prof. Dr Imke Niediek from the Institute of Special Needs Education at Leibniz University Hannover. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the project for three years with approximately 565,000 euros.
The researchers examine how shared play activities emerge, which children become involved in interactions, and which strategies help to overcome communication barriers. While the Hanover team focuses on children who use speech-generating devices (electronic communication aids), the Oldenburg team studies children with hearing aids or cochlear implants. By comparing these groups, the researchers aim to better understand how different hearing and communication technologies shape social interaction and participation. The findings will provide new evidence on how inclusive early childhood education and care can be designed to support all children. Importantly, the project addresses early childhood, a developmental period that has received comparatively little attention in hearing research.
The collaboration also brings together complementary methodological expertise. The Hanover team contributes qualitative analysis of children’s interactions, while the Oldenburg researchers apply quantitative approaches to analyse complex patterns of communication and participation. Together, the partners aim to establish an evidence-based setting for the further development of inclusive educational practice.
In a second project, “DiLeKo – Dialogic Reading for All”, Licandro collaborates with Prof. Dr Annett Thiele, also a special needs education expert from the University of Oldenburg, to develop a practice-oriented professional development programme for early childhood education professionals. The project investigates how dialogic reading, a well-established form of early literacy support, can be adapted – in both print-based and digital formats – to better support children with disabilities, including those with hearing loss. DiLeKo is funded for three years by the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth with approximately 444,000 euros.
Working closely with early childhood education and care providers, the researchers will develop, pilot and evaluate a series of training modules. The resulting materials will be published as freely available Open Educational Resources, enabling their use by early childhood education professionals across German-speaking countries and beyond.
