Discovering that your child is deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) will affect you, your other children, and your extended family members. People may experience a wide range of emotions in the days, weeks and months afterwards, confusion, sadness, worry and jealousy are common. Part of adjusting to your new normal involves working with your wider family to become more deaf aware.
In Australia, three to six children in every thousand have some degree of hearing loss.
Babies and children need plenty of family interaction to build the communication, social, and emotional skills they'll need throughout life. Your family can start building deaf-friendly communication skills by looking at the child when you speak, responding when they interact with you, creating a good listening environment, and using lots of non-verbal communication.
Siblings of a deaf child may experience additional challenges, such as feeling jealous of the attention the DHH child needs. Support your other children by giving them a chance to express their feelings, being patient, encouraging them to learn more about deafness, and setting aside special time for each child.