Deaf culture identity
Various people from different socioeconomic and geographic backgrounds are affected by hearing challenges. Guidelines to asses and manage hearing loss in children have evolved from a failure-based approach to an Evidence based practice (Winiger et al, 2016). Despite this milestone, very little research has been conducted on children diagnosed with minimal hearing loss (MHL) and how to address the needs of these children. Children with hard of hearing constitutes almost 65% of children with hearing impairment. The purpose of this paper is to expand our understanding on the importance of identity development in DHH children.
The Herrera family is an example of a family with a hard-of-hearing child (Lathom-Radocy, 2002). Their daughter, Angelica was enrolled into a toddler program at a nearby school for the deaf after she was diagnosed with unilateral hearing loss. After getting her cochlea ear implant, Angelica has demonstrated great progress and is soon set to start preschool. Her teacher notes that Angelica still needs to be evaluated to determine her areas of need in preschool. It is equally important for parents and individuals to identify the effects of MHL on child literacy (Winiger et al, 2016). Children with minimal hearing loss experience several difficulties in learning how to read and write. These cases help parents to know about these cases since they are an example to be emulated when dealing with children with hard of hearing. Parents are able to know the assistance they can offer to a child with minimal hearing loss to enable then make progress on education.
The identity development of hard-of –hearing child is often a complicated process (Leigh, 2009). There are several factors that affect identity development including the family environment, educational experience, mode of communication and state of hearing loss. Parents and teachers can support the development of identity in HH children by providing a family environment that does not consider hard-on- hearing as a disability (Leigh, 2009). Providing a good learning environment where children with unilateral hearing loss are regarded as a cultural and a language minority group. These factors influence strongly on development of hard- of- hearing identity.