Public Law 99–457, reauthorized as Public Law 101–476, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 (IDEA), mandates the participation of families in educational planning for all young children with disabilities. Family support services have become an accepted part of educational planning for infants and toddlers who are deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH), but professionals continue to search for the most effective support models. In this article, we outline broad categories and principles of support that cut across group differences and that might be incorporated in effective intervention programs for families. We then describe selected characteristics of parents of children who are D/HH (gender, hearing status, socioeconomic status, cultural/linguistic status) as well as characteristics of their children (age at diagnosis, hearing level, additional disabilities) that help to shape and define the dimensions of individualized family plans.
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