I am a late deafened adult who has been wearing hearing aids since Autumn 2002, after being told I had hearing loss, which when told I was initially at first shocked, because I still expected to be told to go away and listen that bit harder.

When I was first fitted with hearing aids, I chose just to have the one, rather than two, because I did not like the idea of wearing a hearing aid, and saw it as what old people wear. Although I have learnt that is not true since then.
Grieving for my hearing loss, hit me big time two years later. Slowly leading up to this I was feeling stressed from finding others not making it easy for me, through ignorance and other situations. I was becoming less patient with myself, and unfortunately my Mum was getting the brunt of it, as I started feeling snappy toward her, as well as myself. My confidence level dropped, and I did not know who I was anymore.

7th October 2008 was when Liz’s Deaf Blog was born. I found by writing my blog it helped to ease my frustrations I had in my life. Then I realised that what I was writing could help others like me, knowing they were not alone feeling what I was feeling. I also found friends through my blog. Some of which I still stay in contact to this day, who have been great support.

My first experience with deaf was when I was nine years old, when a friend of my Mum’s used to come to our home every Sunday afternoon. She was deaf, and so I learnt at that age to always speak without covering my mouth and to speak clearly. I use this experience to speak clearly with other people, when people say they can lip-read me well, and find me a clear speaker. But it’s not until you are deaf yourself, that you realise just how hard it can be. But thankfully with technology we have today, this helps to make our lives easier.

While my blog remains running, it helps not just people like me, but also families or friends of deaf people, who have come to me for advice, whether it was directly through my blog, or privately by email, which I will keep doing when needed. I have also found students use my blog for their studies. It’s nice to know I can help in any way I can.

I find I’m always learning. Being deaf does not mean I know everything, but if we all share knowledge together, that knowledge may help the next person. My latest, as I write this, is finding the right telephony communication, that is also right for me money wise. When I find what I’m searching for, I will share it on my blog and I know I will help the next person.

Award-winning children’s author of the Danny the Dragon series, Tina Turbin, discusses the importance of parents getting involved in their deaf child’s education and offers a variety of ideas and tips for doing so, such as getting to know teachers, playing language-stimulating games, and building social skills through extracurricular activities.

First of all, make sure that your child’s educational needs are being met as effectively as possible with the school you’ve chosen. There are a variety of education options available to deaf and hard of hearing children out there, and just because one option works well for one deaf child doesn’t mean it best suits your own child’s needs. Among the many schooling options available are residential schools for the deaf, mainstreaming or partial mainstreaming in regular schools, special programs for preschool-aged children, self-contained deaf education classrooms in regular schools, and hiring a specially-trained tutor to work with your child at home. Examples of some of the problems your child may encounter are teachers without adequate credentials—a Masters in deaf education, isolation from peers, or inadequate resources such as interpreters or note takers.

Once you’ve established that your child is in the right learning environment, it’s time to get involved. Get to know your child’s teachers and administrators by meeting with them in person, volunteer in the classroom or on field trips, and get involved in extracurricular activities. The more up-to-date you are on what’s going on with your child’s classes, the more alert you’ll be when he or she needs help and the more your child will feel he or she can come to you with difficulties. You can also communicate to teachers any special needs your child may have or concerns of yours. Stay abreast of what your child is learning in class, and take special trips with him or her to the library or museum to learn more about these subjects. You should also connect up with other parents by attending parent-teacher conferences and other related activities such as support teams.

Now that you’ve become proactive in your child’s school, what do you do at home? There are a number of activities for you to do with your child that can help stimulate his language development and other skills. According to Walden University, “Children with more involved parents who attempt to learn a language available to their child, such as ASL, generally develop language skills quicker than their peers with less involved families.” Play board games, do puzzles, read books, play hangman, cultivate a garden, or conduct fun science experiments. During these activities, help your child develop language skills by asking lots of questions, such as his or her opinions of characters in books or why certain natural phenomena occur, or taking turns making up stories about things.

Finally, don’t forget the importance of developing social skills as part of your child’s educational experience. Make sure your child is getting lots of playtime with hearing as well as deaf children and is interacting with adults too. Teach your child manners and set a good example of being polite yourself. Keep an eye on your child, especially at first, when he or she plays with friends to make sure there’s no bullying, teasing, or other unacceptable behavior, by others toward your child or even by your child. Find some sports or artistic activities that your child is particularly interested in and let him or her participate in these with peers.

Deaf children are just like any other children; with your support and involvement they’ll be sure to thrive. The common denominator in enhancing a child’s education seems to be taking an active role as a parent. With some imagination, you’ll be able to think up all sorts of ways to help your child learn and grow.

Tina Turbin