How Hearing Impairment Affects the Child at Home
One interesting statistic is that most parents of deaf and hard of hearing children, between 90 and 95%, are hearing. Because of this, communication in the family is an issue. Finding a way for a hard of hearing child to communicate with the family is very important to their social-emotional development. It is really important for hearing parents to make adjustments within the family to meet the needs of the child with a hearing impairment (Adams and Rohring, 2004).
How Hearing Impairment Affects the Child in the Community
Children with hearing impairment tend to interact primarily with other children with hearing impairments, due to their need for social interaction (Hallahan, 2009). Just because someone is not completely deaf but only hard of hearing does not mean that they have an easier time than someone who is completely deaf. A person with a hearing impairment can be even more isolated than the deaf in a signing community (Fellinger et.al., 2007). Those with hearing impairments report higher rates of isolation, and unfortunately mental health services are not widely available for them, due to the communication barrier (Cabral et. al., 2013).
One interesting statistic is that most parents of deaf and hard of hearing children, between 90 and 95%, are hearing. Because of this, communication in the family is an issue. Finding a way for a hard of hearing child to communicate with the family is very important to their social-emotional development. It is really important for hearing parents to make adjustments within the family to meet the needs of the child with a hearing impairment (Adams and Rohring, 2004).
How Hearing Impairment Affects the Child in the Community
Children with hearing impairment tend to interact primarily with other children with hearing impairments, due to their need for social interaction (Hallahan, 2009). Just because someone is not completely deaf but only hard of hearing does not mean that they have an easier time than someone who is completely deaf. A person with a hearing impairment can be even more isolated than the deaf in a signing community (Fellinger et.al., 2007). Those with hearing impairments report higher rates of isolation, and unfortunately mental health services are not widely available for them, due to the communication barrier (Cabral et. al., 2013).