Special Needs Adoption - Deaf and Hard of Hearing

by Shoshanna Grey | More from this Blogger

13 Jun 2008 08:00 AM

For today's Special Needs Adoption Awareness blog I want to talk about a special need that has become very near to my heart. Most of you already know that Laney is deaf. What you may not know is how much I wrestled with adopting a deaf child. When we committed to adopt Laney we knew no sign language and no deaf people. We knew nothing about hearing aides or deaf education either. I often would sit and imagine Laney being home and wonder if I would even be able to talk to her. What if we never got past the "baby language" phase of potty and eat and nite-nite? What if we never had a meaningful conversation? I also worried about what type of future she would have. Would she be able to learn to read? Get a job? Go to college? Live on her own?

Now that Laney is home I wonder why I even worried about those things. Laney isn't a deaf child that we adopted. She is a child we adopted who happens to be deaf. She also happens to be funny and quirky and has so much energy that you're exhausted just watching her. She plays with her dolls, adores her daddy and begs me to give her a popsicles on hot summer afternoons. Sometimes I forget that we're doing all of those things in sign. Sometimes I forget that she can't hear the day-to-day sounds that most of us take for granted. The truth is, though, that being deaf isn't what defines Laney. It's just a feature like her big brown eyes or her adorable laugh. There are many children here and the US and around the world who are deaf or hard of hearing and waiting for families. Many of these kids have never been given a chance for language and may not have any way of communicating. Becoming part of a family means not only loving arms around them but an opening of a world for them. Think about the story of Helen Keller when she realized there was a word for everything and that she could actually talk about her world! Many adoptive parents of deaf children get to watch a similar scene unfold.

Is it challenging to raise a deaf child? If you don't know sign then you will need to learn. You will also need to get familiar with the doctors, schools and community resources available in your area. You will have to research hard topics like cochlear implants and Oral Education versus Total Communication. You will want to find support from other families raising deaf kids. So in some ways it is challenging, but it is also worth it. Being deaf just means living life differently, but it does not mean a life that is lacking.

Can you raise a deaf child? That's a good question to start asking yourself. There are a few resources that can help you including: Deaf/HOH Adoption Yahoo Group Deaf Child Worldwide ASLpro.com National Association of the Deaf

Related Articles: Relocating for Your Adopted Child How Laney Found Us Could My Child Have a Hearing Impairment?

Learn more about Shoshanna Grey

Shoshanna Grey has worked as an occupational social worker, teacher, child care provider, customer service reqpresentative, college recruiter and several other positions over the years.

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