hiii ^_^ i was wondering if you had any advice for writing Deaf/deaf/HOH characters? And how it might’ve affected their childhood ?
Hi! I have this previous post: Deaf Characters. Additional notes:
Hearing loss in children can be present at birth (congenital) or develop later in childhood (acquired).
Congenital hearing loss can be hereditary (genetic) or caused by infections during pregnancy, including infection with cytomegalovirus or rubella.
Hearing loss is more common in babies who are in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Hearing loss can be an isolated condition or a feature of a syndrome that causes additional symptoms.
Genetic testing can help determine the cause of hearing loss in some cases.
Acquired hearing loss can be caused by infectious diseases, such as meningitis or recurrent ear infections, as well as trauma and certain medications.
Depending on its cause and origin, the hearing loss can be:
Sensorineural, a permanent type of hearing loss which occurs when the inner ear (cochlea) or the auditory nerve is damaged or malformed
Conductive, which occurs when the sound can’t travel through the ear because of earwax build-up, a foreign body lodged somewhere in the ear, build-up of fluid or a punctured eardrum (Conductive hearing losses may be treated in some cases with medicine or surgery.)
Hearing loss is categorized as mild, moderate, severe or profound depending on its severity.
Reduced hearing, such as inability to hear faint sounds
Failure to respond to sound
Delay of language and speech development in young children
Mild, progressive or temporary deafness may be difficult to identify as children often adapt extremely well, for example, by learning to lip-read.
However, any hearing loss, even if it’s temporary or mild, can have a big impact, particularly in the early years when children are developing their speech and language skills.
Glue ear (i.e., occurs when the middle ear becomes filled with sticky fluid), although usually temporary, affects a child’s ability to hear. Temporary hearing loss can easily be mistaken for stubbornness or being naughty.
Look out for the following signs which may indicate glue ear, mild or progressive deafness:
Changes in behaviour for example becoming withdrawn or frustrated.
Red ears in babies and/or pulling at their ears.
Delayed speech and communication development.
Mishearing and mispronouncing words.
Not hearing what's going on if there's background noise.
Not responding when called.
Problems with concentrating, tiredness and frustration that affects their behaviour.
Difficulties with reading and learning.
Wanting the volume of the TV higher than other members of your family.
They face daily struggles to be understood, even by their own family. This can understandably lead to feelings of isolation, loneliness and frustration.
Often a deaf child is the only deaf person in their family, their school or even their whole community, so there’s no one to share their feelings with.
Deaf children are sometimes bullied or experience stigma, discrimination or inequality because of their deafness.
In stressful situations, many deaf children are left anxious because no one has adequately explained the stress inducing situation to them.
Sources: 1 2 3 ⚜ More: References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs
Hope this helps with your writing :)
