Parent's perspective on hearing loss
Being a parent that has a child with hearing loss comes with a great many things to consider. There are tests that can be done when the child is first born to test hearing right away so that the hearing loss can be caught early. With this then the accommodations can be made right away and the parents can be made more aware of what they can expect in the future and what their options are. However, there are some times when the hearing loss is not caught very early on and more around when the child is 4-5 years of age. During this time the child is starting to develop a more varied vocabulary and maybe even starting school, but a child with hearing loss with start showing signs that they aren't hearing well. There are also children who may lose their hearing later on in life, whether it be gradual or a sudden loss caused by illness or other circumstances. Either way, this change can be very sudden to the parents and sometimes overwhelming.
There is an article authored by a parent that has a child with hearing loss at Deaf Culture Online that gives some of the challenges that are associated with it: Parents of Deaf Children. He/She details that when parents first learn about their child having hearing loss there are hearing aids, speech therapy, cochlear implants that need to be taken into account and some of the accommodations can be overwhelming for a parent who was not prepared for it, that there is the need to find all the information that is required to know about what their child is going through. He/She also talks about if a parent has to learn sign language with their child just be able to communicate with them and how that it can be just as confusing to the parents as it might be for the child.
Then there is the education side of things. There are teachers and administration to inform and making sure that everything is provided for their child so that they have the opportunities to learn and engage as much as there peers.
However, he/she does mention that there are bright sides to having a child with hearing loss. There is a whole new culture and language that comes with learning sign language and having a child that has hearing loss and those that are involved with helping their child.
However, not all parents are as proactive as the author in this article. Some parents might think that a hearing aid is the only thing that is needed to 'fix the problem' and leave it at that. This is a 'bandaid solution' as it might only help the child hear a little better, but not accommodate them as fully as a combination of solutions might.
There is an article authored by a parent that has a child with hearing loss at Deaf Culture Online that gives some of the challenges that are associated with it: Parents of Deaf Children. He/She details that when parents first learn about their child having hearing loss there are hearing aids, speech therapy, cochlear implants that need to be taken into account and some of the accommodations can be overwhelming for a parent who was not prepared for it, that there is the need to find all the information that is required to know about what their child is going through. He/She also talks about if a parent has to learn sign language with their child just be able to communicate with them and how that it can be just as confusing to the parents as it might be for the child.
Then there is the education side of things. There are teachers and administration to inform and making sure that everything is provided for their child so that they have the opportunities to learn and engage as much as there peers.
However, he/she does mention that there are bright sides to having a child with hearing loss. There is a whole new culture and language that comes with learning sign language and having a child that has hearing loss and those that are involved with helping their child.
However, not all parents are as proactive as the author in this article. Some parents might think that a hearing aid is the only thing that is needed to 'fix the problem' and leave it at that. This is a 'bandaid solution' as it might only help the child hear a little better, but not accommodate them as fully as a combination of solutions might.
Video
The video below is a parent talking in ASL, captions included, about her two daughters who have hearing loss. It is her perspective on what it is like to be hearing parent raising deaf children, including a bit on schooling and language choices. YouTube has a wealth of videos on this subject matter, many of them listed in the recommended viewing section beside this video.