As a parent of a child whose hearing is impaired, it’s normal to feel frustrated or challenged sometimes. Deafness or hearing impairment affects not only the child with the impairment but also the child’s family, friends and teachers, reports the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). Whether your child is still a baby or already in school, there are solutions you can implement to make life easier for everyone.
Love and Respect
Children need love and encouragement from families and caregivers, according to the NIDCD. But that doesn’t mean you need to treat a hearing-impaired child with sympathy, adds Dr. Rajkumar Umesh Singh, of the Dubai-American Hospital. He advises giving your child the same love and discipline you’d give to any other child, while enjoying and respecting his individuality. Also keep in mind that your child can succeed regardless of his age or degree of hearing loss, notes the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. They recommend maintaining a positive attitude, seeking the best resources, learning what you can and taking an active role in educating your child.
Stimulate and Teach
If newborn hearing screening has identified hearing problems in your baby, take the time to interact with her often by holding, facing, smiling at and responding to your infant, suggests the NIDCD. If your child is a little older, Dr. Singh advises creating a stimulating learning environment in your home, such as telling her stories in a dramatic way and encouraging questions, or hanging up charts that she can explore and ask about. If she doesn’t respond to or repeat what you say, don’t become disheartened; just keep at it, and vary the stimulation. If your child is in school, a teacher experienced in working with deaf children will be able to give you ideas on how to improve the long-term outcomes for your child, claims the NIDCD.
Optimize Residual Hearing
A hearing aid or cochlear implant may help your child optimize the hearing he does have and so learn to speak properly. His doctor, or a professional who works with deaf children in the language development field, can discuss your options and help you make a decision. Your community may have a program where you and your hearing-impaired child can attend therapy sessions; rather than the focus being just on your child, you’ll be learning how to teach him the meanings of words and sounds.
Coordinate Care
You might find it beneficial to work with a team of professionals, including a pediatrician; ear, nose and throat doctor; audiologist; and speech-language pathologist. You might also want to include an educational or social service professional. Some of these experts are specially trained to work with children and will be designated as pediatric. Whoever you choose to see, ask each of them to share information about your child’s visits with the others so that her care is coordinated among everyone.
