social skills 137
Take her with you when you collect water, gather wood, or when you
go to the market, to school, to places of worship, to festivals, or to
community meetings and events. Along
the way, try to notice what hearing
children can learn just by listening.
For this money
you can have 2.
Try to explain these things to your
child by using signs or words that
you both understand.
By watching others, children
can learn about the world
around them. They can learn
things like who grows the food
they eat, and how people buy
and sell at the market.
Help your child develop friendships
As children begin playing more with each other, communication and
the ability to get along with others become more important. Many deaf
children are lonely and isolated. This is partly because they have not
learned enough social skills
Since Rina can’t
hear well, let’s
play a game
where hearing
doesn’t matter!
We could use hand
signals instead of
saying words for
‘ready’, and ‘out’.
to develop friendships. It is
also because hearing children
do not know how to include
them.
You can help children in the
community who are not deaf
understand how to communicate
with deaf children. When other
children know how to communicate
with a deaf child, they may be
more willing to include her in their
games.
Children often make up games of
‘pretend’. If they include a deaf child,
it can help him learn about what to
expect in new situations and how to
behave.
Simon’s brother and sister are playing
‘store’ to help him understand how
people act in stores and how things
are purchased.
Helping Children Who Are Deaf (2004)