Words of Wisdom

• Be proud of your child - hearing loss is not their identity, it is just one aspect of who
    they are.

• Be realistic about your child’s strengths and limitations—show them how to use these
   tools to advocate for themselves. Be as informative and neutral as you can about
  (re)habilitative options.

• Find a support system.

• Arm yourself with information.

• Explore all of your communication options.

• Have high expectations - having a hearing loss does not mean you have to lower your
   expectations of what your child is capable of doing.

• Be flexible in your thinking - the hardest thing to get over is your own self-doubt and
    disappointment in a situation you have no ultimate control over.

• Teach others about your child’s needs - you are your child’s best ally.

Advice from teens

• When repeating something, don’t talk louder, talk clearer.

• If a child uses sign language, parents should also.

• Be patient, it is difficult to be the one who doesn’t hear.

• When repeating something over and over, try rephrasing and maybe then I will
    understand better.

• Don’t call me from another room and expect me to answer or hear what was being said, it
   sounds like mumblings.

• Remember that I am deaf or hard hearing.

• Don’t talk at the same time, try one person at a time.

• Don’t be overprotective because of my hearing loss.

• Don’t try to limit my activities because of my hearing loss, if I want to do it, I will figure out
   for myself if it is too difficult because of my hearing loss.

• Be supportive of what I want to do in my life, give me the strength by believing in the
   dreams I have for the world.


From: Hearing Impaired Teens Interacting Together (Hit It!), School District, Canton, Ohio, September 2004.