Living in a DEAF home

As deaf parents of hearing children, life at home involves the blending of two worlds. Our world is the deaf world, while our children’s is the hearing world. But in some way, we don’t really see it as the merging of two worlds. In fact, it is just one, where there is both hearing and deaf. At the same time, my deafness does play a prominent role in our lives, mainly because it changes the norm. We’ve found a way to turn this dual-world home into one DEAF world.

D: Deafness.

We often talk about deafness and what it means to be deaf. We answer our child’s questions about deafness and the deaf world and she shares with us her thoughts and feelings about having deaf parents. We ask her about the kids at school and what questions they might have, and we discuss any outside concerns from others.

E: Encouragement.

Just as we encourage discussion about all things deaf, we also encourage our child to indulge in her hearing world. We are all too happy to buy music CD’s, speakers for the computer, musical toys and books. We encourage her to explore her sense of sound, to listen to the crunch of Fall leaves or the clatter of pots and pans. We sing together, dance together and play games together. At the same time, we encourage her to learn sign language and communicate through sign.

A: Action.

There has to be participation in a healthy deaf/hearing family. This is what I believe. Participation in school meetings and activities, participation in sign language classes, participation in extracurricular activities and family outings. Just because I can’t hear anything, it doesn’t mean I have to live isolated from the world. If I must attend a school meeting that isn't one-on-one, I’ll ask for an interpreter first and be all too happy to attend. If my child wants to go see a movie or go to the fair, we get up and go. Having action in the family helps us learn together, work together and be a family together.

F: Fun.

Deafness is not the end of having fun in life. Yes, it is sad that we can’t communicate with each other like other hearing families can, but it’s essential to maintain a positive and happy environment in the home despite this. Being unable to hear should not bring on a cloud of negativity over the family or make everybody all depressed. Deafness is just a part of life. It’s the way it is. We can’t allow it to "rain on our parade" and put the brakes on enjoying life. Life is only lived once. It’s pointless to live in a depressed state and a waste of time groveling over being deaf. Additionally, I have to keep in mind that a positive, happy attitude in life will show my child that a deaf person CAN be a happy person.

Living in a DEAF home may be different for all of us, but ultimately, it has made life more rewarding. Through Deafness, Encouragement, Action and Fun, we’ve found a way to combine both the deaf and hearing worlds to make one. The DEAF world.