S-P-E-L-L it out for me: A Letter to Mom and Dad from Your Child with Hearing Loss

Dear Mom and Dad, Hi, its me your child with hearing loss. There is something really important about me that you need to know. I realize how hard you try to help me learn language and succeed, so I know that you would want to know about this so you can help me. I try [...]

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Celebrate the Successes!

As the school year comes to an end, I find myself filled with emotion: stress about the last book report when the book is lost, anxiety about the letter from the library about HOW MANY books are lost, relief that the children (and their parents) got through it, excitement about the beach and summer vacations, [...]

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Encouraging Friendships for Kids with Hearing Loss

Some kids seem to make friends with ease. They always seem to have someone to play with, and they have no trouble navigating the social world of their classroom or neighborhood. Other kids need more support and may need parents to play a more active role in their effort to make friends. All of the [...]

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High Expectations and Realistic Situations: A New Motto

There is a very tender, delicate balancing act that parents of children with hearing loss find themselves in. It is really a fundamental issue that lies beneath the surface of so many of the other issues that come up parenting children with hearing loss – so lets address it head on: On the one hand [...]

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How am I supposed to know what is “normal” and when my child needs help?

The parents of a 11-year old boy realized that their son was having so much trouble with the other children at school. He was getting help from an itinerant teacher three times a week. She was making a big difference in his academic life, his grades were good and he was following what was going [...]

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Why don’t you want to go to the Halloween/Christmas/Hannuka/any other holiday/birthday/anniversary/any other kind of party – everyone else is going!?

Being a guest at a party is not supposed to be too stressful. Yes, some parties are obligations that you might not feel so enthusiastic about. Yes, you need to get dressed appropriately, you might need to bring a gift, and you need to arrive on time but not too early, but attending a party [...]

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Understanding Your Teenager

Teri and Bob had been very involved in their daughter’s education and her life from the start. When they found out that their beautiful baby girl Emily (she is their second child) was deaf, it shook up their whole world. Teri took a leave of absence from her job in order to give Emily all [...]

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The First Day of School Without Fear

Gina was starting Pre-K at the local elementary school in a week and suddenly started crying for no obvious reason. When her parents reminded her about her new “promotion” to the school for big kids, after 2 years in a small home day-care, she said that she didn’t want to go. She HAD been so [...]

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Supporting Siblings of Children with Hearing Loss

Sibling relationships are both incredibly enriching and important connections for children (and adults!) and can cause complicated, very emotionally-draining conflicts in families. They are so complex and individual that it is very hard to talk about them in general terms. But I will try to talk about them in general terms because parents are searching [...]

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“Do I have to keep going to speech?”

Marie was 9 years old when she turned to her dad during the car ride home from a birthday party and asked “Do I have to keep going to speech?” Marie’s dad was totally floored – he was not expecting this question. Speech therapy was as much a part of the family’s routine as grocery [...]

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