Deaf and Hard of Hearing Child Resilience Center

Deaf and hard of hearing children and youth are typically at a higher risk for trauma exposure than the general child population due to the unique trauma experienced from everyday communication barriers.

Yet, the number of trauma-informed and linguistically accessible treatments and mental health measures for deaf and hard of hearing remain severely limited. We’re here to change that.

The Child Resilience Center addresses these disparities by adapting and translating child behavioral and trauma measures, developing a new screening measure of language deprivation, adapting evidence-based treatments, and providing training and ongoing consultation for clinicians.

We’ve developed a multi-tier approach to improve the quality of services and to eliminate health disparities for deaf children, adolescents, and their families.

Our goals include:

• Measures: Creating culturally and linguistically accessible tools to assess trauma symptoms and trauma-related behaviors in deaf and hard of hearing children and youth.
• Treatments: Increasing the number of evidence-based trauma-focused interventions adapted for deaf and hard of hearing children and youth.
• Training: Growing the number of mental health professionals trained in culturally and linguistically accessible evidence-based trauma-focused interventions.
• Resources: Disseminating new training, resources, and screening materials to educate providers and families about the unique cultural and linguistic needs of deaf and hard of hearing children.
• Language: Developing a new screening measure of language deprivation to provide mental health professionals with tools for identification and prevention.

Our Center is part of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), which is funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).