180 support for parents and caregivers
When you first learn your child cannot hear well
Learning that a child cannot hear well or is deaf can be very upsetting,
even for families who have relatives who are deaf or cannot hear well.
This is natural. You may have feelings of:
• worry about what to do
• fears of what it means to be deaf
and fears about the future
I don’t know
anything about
deafness. How could
I possibly help my
child?
How will my child
get married or earn
a living?
• denial
My child will hear
well if I just find the
right treatment.
• anger at what has happened
It’s not fair
that this happened
to my family.
• loneliness
No one else
knows what this
is like. No one
can help.
• shame because
your child is deaf
What will
our neighbors
think?
• guilt about what you might have
done to cause the deafness
If I had eaten
better during my
pregnancy, this
would never have
happened.
• sadness, helplessness, or
no feelings at all (depression)
I feel so
hopeless...
• accepting it as fate
or punishment
We can’t do anything
to change a curse. It is
just our fate.
Helping Children Who Are Deaf (2004)