I came across this paragraph as I did some research for the California project I am currently working on tonight...Parents desire the medical community to know this about having a child who is deaf/hh (deaf/hard of hearing):
- “I want you to know that my child who is deaf is the greatest gift I have ever received.”
- “The impact of hearing loss is real, yet it is not hopeless.”
- “We as a family are stronger because of this journey.”
- “My child is. . .an honor student. . .. a soccer player. . .. a college graduate. . .a champion swimmer. . .an actress. . .. a viola player. . .”
- Parents desire respect for the expertise they have about their child, for what knowledge they’ve acquired about deafness and hearing loss, and for the choices they have made.
You know you're a doctoral student nerd when you get excited over reading these statements and wonder if you're going to come across the same type of data when you do your dissertation in (hopefully) 9 months. Hehe. Reading these quotes also makes me thankful for the umpteenth millionth time for my parents and all their hard work they did with me to help me be the person I am today! (My guess is they would most relate to bullet # 4..haha!) I commend all you parents out there who keep at it day in and day out no matter the challenges/struggles you face, with and without special needs!!
If you want to read the article in its entirety, here's the citation for it. :)
DesGeorges,
J. (2003). Family perceptions of early hearing,
detection, and intervention systems:
Listening to and learning from families.
Mental Retardation and
Developmental Disabilities Research Reviews,9, 89-93.
No comments:
Post a Comment