dc.description.abstract | Objective—To examine parents’ recollections of and their experiences with bringing up a child
diagnosed with hearing loss at a very young age.
Design—Based on the analysis of informal parent discussion groups, four open-ended questions
were formulated to solicit information about parents’ expectations following diagnosis, as well as
experiences and challenges when raising a child with a hearing loss.
Study Sample—Forty parents of children, aged between three to five years, who were
diagnosed with hearing loss before the age of three years.
Results—Parents’ responses revealed strong support for early intervention, high expectations for
their child’s development, and desire for information tailored to individual needs. Parents also
reported anxiety relating to their perceptions of the significance of consistent device usage on their
child’s development. Further concerns arose from their observations of the difficulties experienced
by their child in real-world environments despite consistent device usage, and their perception of
their child’s language delay despite early intervention.
Conclusions—The findings point to a need to support parents to form realistic expectations
based on current knowledge. Implications for clinicians to provide improved management of
children with hearing loss are discussed. | en_US |