My fist concern would be if they were otherwise
healthy. Depending on how they became deaf, they could have other health
issues. If they were otherwise healthy and only deaf, I think that I would try
to figure out how deaf they were: fully deaf, hard of hearing, had more hearing
in one ear than the other. Once I figured that out, if they were fully deaf, I would
contact first steps and some of my Deaf friends to help me out and figure out
exactly what I need to do to give my child language (or language back if this
was postlingual deafness). I would make sure that they were surrounded by Deaf
people in the community and getting everything they need (that I can’t provide)
from these Deaf individuals. If my child was able to wear a hearing aid and actually
benefit from it, I would probably fit them for one (or two if that was an option)
and depending on their language skills (if he/she was older then working with
the hearing aids would probably be important for them) we would go through the
steps and hard work that comes after trying to get used to hearing aids. If my
child was younger then I might not even bother with hearing aids and just start
immersing them into the Deaf culture, community, and language and when they
became older, if they wanted hearing aids then that is an option we would have.
This disability is beyond frustrating to those who have to deal with it. My disability became noticeable at the age of two, because I was not communicating like normal toddlers. The fact that my parents were more into themselves, and my disability was put on the back burner as if they didn't have time to deal. I say this because it took a longer amount of time for me to receive the help I need to thrive, it took longer for tests, and then I developed Otis Media during my early childhood and I was not able to defeat it until I was seventeen. It was so hard! Now that I am a parent of two little boys, I know that they could possibly inherit my disability. I am constantly working with them to make sure they hear certain sounds, my youngest one is showing signs but he's now picking up communicating quiet well. I know that when it comes to my children, I am with you on how you feel about if your child(ren) become deaf or struggle with the disability.
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