When you have a child, you do not want to think about the possibility that they could suffer a health crisis or issue. However, if this does occur and the result is that your child is deaf after the fact, you may be unsure of how to handle the situation or what you can do to help your child cope with this profound change in their life. There are numerous steps that you can take and options that you can consider if and when your child goes deaf. Get to know a few of those options so that you can get started as soon as possible and provide your child with the care and support that they need.

Consider Hearing Aids

There are different degrees of deafness. Some children who go deaf can still hear a little bit (but are considered to be legally deaf) while others may be profoundly deaf where they can hear no sound whatsoever.

For children who have very little hearing capability, hearing aids may be beneficial to them in some ways. While these devices may not be able to help them hear and discern voices, hearing aids might help a deaf child hear some ambient noise (like traffic, certain alarms, and the like). This will help to increase their awareness of the world around them and can keep your child safer as they navigate the world.

Help Them Learn To Communicate Again

Depending on your child's age when they went deaf, they may or may not have already developed oral speaking skills. If they already speak orally, they may benefit from speech therapy and speech language pathology to continue to develop their oral speech skills even though they cannot hear themselves speak. Children who have not yet learned to speak may also learn to do so orally with speech therapy if you so choose as well, though it will be more challenging for them.

Communication does not just need to be oral speech, though. It would also be a good idea to help your child adjust to their deafness by having them learn sign language. This can be extremely beneficial not only for your child to learn but also for you. Reading lips is a skill that is difficult to learn and keep up with for children and adults who are deaf. Sign language will provide your family and your child with a more natural way to communicate for your deaf child.

Now that you know a few of the ways that you can help your child when they go deaf, you can be sure that you are providing your child with the best possible care and support now and in the future.

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