1. FAMILIES WITH DEAF CHILDREN KEY CONCEPTS

2. How is the birth of a deaf child viewed by many Deaf parents Many Deaf parents prefer Deaf children. They are happy with Deaf children, they welcome a Deaf child. Just like many hearing parents would prefer hearing children. Parents naturally want children like themselves, who will share their language, culture and traditions. Deaf parents are happy to pass on their Deaf heritage to their Deaf children.

3. Describe the environment for a deaf child in a Deaf family This environment is naturally a visual environment, it is perfectly suited to the needs of a deaf child. The home is already functioning with flashing lights, TTY’s and a visual language that the deaf child will naturally start to learn.

4. Why do some Deaf parents feel sad at the birth of a deaf child? Deaf parents know what it is like to be a deaf child. They know how hearing people look down on deaf people. They know the challenges and hardships of being deaf in a hearing world. They have experience with the way hearing people treat deaf people, which isn’t always nice and they feel bad for their deaf child who will probably experience those things too.

5. What are some obstacles Deaf parents face in raising children? Deaf parents are often undereducated and underemployed. (Average Deaf high school grads have a 4th grade reading level) This means they often have fewer resources available to them. Deaf parents are viewed as less capable by hearing people, and they may have doubts and low self esteem that are obstacles in raising children. DEAF PARENTS DO NOT HAVE TROUBLE COMMUNICATING WITH THEIR CHILDREN. CHILDREN (DEAF OR HEARING) WILL LEARN THE LANGUAGE OF THE PARENTS JUST LIKE YOU LEARNED THE LANGUAGE OF YOUR PARENTS IN THE NATURAL LANGUAGE LEARNING PROCESS.

6. What professional advice is usually given to families of deaf children? Get hearing aids and speech therapy. Work hard to make the child “normal” like a hearing child. Families are almost never advised to use sign language or that sign would be good. They are not encouraged to seek out the Deaf Community and get input from Deaf people. Signing is usually discouraged, and that it will limit the child’s speech development.

7. Pattern of diagnosis Mom starts to suspect a problem when the baby is 3-4 months old. Other family members usually think baby is fine-don’t think there is a problem. Mom thinks maybe they are right and she is wrong. Family tries “home tests” to see if baby responds to noises. Sometimes baby does turn which makes family feel the baby actually can hear.(baby turned in response to visual or vibration changes, not to the sound-fools the parents)

8. Diagnosis continued…. Over the next few months, mom continues to feel some concerns about the baby not responding. She may tell the Dr. Dr. does the same “home tests” to see if baby can hear. Baby might turn and the Dr. tells mom that baby is fine. Don’t worry. Over the next 4-5 moths (baby is now getting close to 1 year old) the family continues to feel the child is not responding to sounds and will get a hearing test, which will confirm the child does have a hearing loss.

9. After the diagnosis is made what is the focus? Hearing parents and the doctors and audiologists who tested the baby’s hearing now focus on “fixing” the deaf baby to make the baby like “normal” hearing children. This means hearing aids and speech therapy to teach the child how to talk, and “act” like hearing children.

10. Why don’t hearing parents use approaches that Deaf parents do with deaf children? Hearing parents don’t have any Deaf World Experience. They don’t know any Deaf people, they don’t know how to meet them and talk to them. The professionals don’t advise hearing parents to get input from the Deaf Community. Hearing parents and hearing Doctors think of deafness as a handicap and a disability to try to fix. They don’t encourage getting involved in the Deaf World.

11. What problems do hearing families with deaf children have? They don’t know about ASL and the Deaf World Getting all the information and making sense of it is very hard. They have to make decisions without a lot of knowledge. There are big communication problems with the deaf child-who is not able to learn spoken language quickly due to not hearing it and the family is not signing as an alternate communication method.

12. More problems Parents who can’t communicate with their deaf children often become very frustrated. So does the child. Parents may over-discipline, they may control all the interactions of the deaf child. There are not many support systems for hearing families with deaf children. Parents are unsure of what to do, they are unsure what is best. Child development is negatively affected in this environment.

13. What coping strategies does a Deaf child develop in this environment? Cling to mother Fear of separation-excessive crying, holding on to parents Pointing/gesturing to try to get what they want-tantrums when they don’t.

14. How do hearing parents unintentionally inhibit the deaf child’s development No meaningful communication.Without communication the child cannot develop normal social, emotional, linguistic, and cognitive growth, which will limit their educational progress as they get older. Parents do everything for the child-child doesn’t develop independence. Parents don’t let the child explore the physical and social environment-parents control all the child’s interactions.

15. What is the central issue in raising a deaf child? The issue is Language! A deaf child must have a language that he/she can easily acquire and use. Spoken language is very difficult for a deaf child to acquire-leaving a deaf child with very limited language development and very limited ability to communicate and understand others.