Hey all!
My name is Erik and I am the hearing father of a 9-year-old son who lost his hearing at 15 months to meningitis. I'm currently going through an interpreter training program and am working on a school project evaluating the impact to extended family members who have a hearing difference in their family. We are actually looking at 3 distinct family units: deaf of deaf, deaf of hearing, and hearing of deaf. We hope to highlight and contrast the thoughts, feelings, barriers, etc that extended family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers ,cousins, etc) feel when they learn that a family member is hearing/deaf.
As a hearing parent of a deaf child, we have seen a variety of responses in our own families and have experienced how our son's hearing difference has impacted his relationships with extended family members (some positively...some not so positively). I would appreciate any help you might provide in answering any or all of the questions below (we realize they may not all apply to each family unit). Please e-mail me directly with your responses!
Many thanks in advance!
Erik
questions below:
------------------------
1. How are you related to your deaf/hearing family member?
2. How did you feel when you found out that he/she was deaf/hearing?
3. What kind of impressions did you have about the deaf/hearing community?
4. Were you aware there was such a thing as Deaf culture or a Deaf Community?
5. What were your fears or first thoughts/questions?
6. If your family member is hearing in a deaf family, how did you think this hearing member would impact your interaction with the hearing community? With the Deaf Community?
7. Have those impressions changed at all since you've learned of your family members hearing difference?
8. Do you feel differently about their hearing loss, abilities, etc.?
9. How important to you was communication with this family member?
10. How do you communicate with this family member? (sign, orally/talking,
writing, combination of methods?)
11. What steps did you take to facilitate communication with this family
member? (read literature, learn signs, take classes, involvement in the
Deaf community?)
12. What barriers to communication or learning how to communicate were there for you as an extended family member?
13. How well are you able to communicate with this family member? (no
communication, communicate basic needs, carry on basic conversation? Are
you able to communicate on the same level as you would with other similar
family members?)
14. How often do you see or interact with this faimly member? (family
gatherings, special occasions only, more regular basis?)
My name is Erik and I am the hearing father of a 9-year-old son who lost his hearing at 15 months to meningitis. I'm currently going through an interpreter training program and am working on a school project evaluating the impact to extended family members who have a hearing difference in their family. We are actually looking at 3 distinct family units: deaf of deaf, deaf of hearing, and hearing of deaf. We hope to highlight and contrast the thoughts, feelings, barriers, etc that extended family members (grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers ,cousins, etc) feel when they learn that a family member is hearing/deaf.
As a hearing parent of a deaf child, we have seen a variety of responses in our own families and have experienced how our son's hearing difference has impacted his relationships with extended family members (some positively...some not so positively). I would appreciate any help you might provide in answering any or all of the questions below (we realize they may not all apply to each family unit). Please e-mail me directly with your responses!
Many thanks in advance!
Erik
questions below:
------------------------
1. How are you related to your deaf/hearing family member?
2. How did you feel when you found out that he/she was deaf/hearing?
3. What kind of impressions did you have about the deaf/hearing community?
4. Were you aware there was such a thing as Deaf culture or a Deaf Community?
5. What were your fears or first thoughts/questions?
6. If your family member is hearing in a deaf family, how did you think this hearing member would impact your interaction with the hearing community? With the Deaf Community?
7. Have those impressions changed at all since you've learned of your family members hearing difference?
8. Do you feel differently about their hearing loss, abilities, etc.?
9. How important to you was communication with this family member?
10. How do you communicate with this family member? (sign, orally/talking,
writing, combination of methods?)
11. What steps did you take to facilitate communication with this family
member? (read literature, learn signs, take classes, involvement in the
Deaf community?)
12. What barriers to communication or learning how to communicate were there for you as an extended family member?
13. How well are you able to communicate with this family member? (no
communication, communicate basic needs, carry on basic conversation? Are
you able to communicate on the same level as you would with other similar
family members?)
14. How often do you see or interact with this faimly member? (family
gatherings, special occasions only, more regular basis?)