Dr. Deborah Mood, Ph.D.

Dr. Deborah Mood, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Pediatrics – Developmental Pediatrics
University of Colorado – School of Medicine

[email protected]

Lessons Learned

• The presentation of trauma symptoms in young children with reduced language and developmental disabilities is very frequently misunderstood by caregivers, teachers, and other allied health professionals and sometimes assumed to be a symptom of the developmental disability itself.
• Fostering connection and caregiver responsiveness to their child’s cues, which may not always be intuitively interpreted, is critical to reduce risk of maltreatment. It is critical that children who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing have access to language. This both ensures that they are less likely to be selectively targeted and that they are able to give a complete report regarding maltreatment if necessary. They must be explicitly taught names and relationships of family members, caretakers, school personnel, body parts, etc.
• Deaf adults are at higher risk of being assumed to maltreat their children and their engagement with DHS/CPS is complicated by systems that are often inaccessible (see https://www.nad.org/about-us/position-statements/position-statement-on-…)

Resources Developed

• Mood, D, Szarkowski, A, Brice, PJ, & Wiley, S. (2020). Relational factors in pragmatic skill development:
  Deaf and hard of hearing infants and toddlers. Pediatrics,146(Suppl 3):S246-S261.
  https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-0242D
• Powerpoint (coming soon)

Suggested Resources

• Hands & Voices Our project- (for children who are DHH) https://www.handsandvoices.org/resources/OUR/index.htm
• National Child Traumatic Stress Network (not perfect but at least somewhat helpful guide for non-deafness trained therapists working with DHH children experiencing trauma when I have to refer out) https://www.nctsn.org/resources/addressing-trauma-treatment-needs-child…
• Child Welfare Information Gateway https://www.childwelfare.gov
• Zero to three Healthy Steps https://www.zerotothree.org/issue-areas/trauma/ (connecting with their providers in one rural area in CO has been very helpful!)

Collaborative Areas of Interest

• Prevention
• Building systems of care
• Promoting language access and language skill development (especially pragmatics) to promote safety