Resources for Parents with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

One of the greatest challenges for modern parents is communicating with their children. For parents who have deaf and hard of hearing children, the challenge is even greater. Other than communicating with the child, the parents have to deal with issues like the child’s education, social integration, hearing aids, health, and so on. Nevertheless, there are many resources on the Internet to help parents deal with the circumstances a little better. Here’s a resource center for parents with deaf and hard of hearing children.

Understanding Deafness & How the Ear Works

• Etiologies & Causes of Deafness: The Gallaudet University provides a comprehensive list of the causes of deafness in humans.
• Common Concerns: The John Tracy Clinic answers some of the most common FAQs about hearing loss in children.
• Understanding Deafness: The National Deaf Children’s Society offers materials to help parents understand more about deafness.
• The Genetics of Deafness: The brochure by Harvard Medical School provides information on hereditary deafness.
• A Range of Causes: The page provides information on the various causes of deafness.
• Perception of Sound: The Environment Protection Department of Hong Kong explains how the ear works with diagrams.
• Hearing Loss in Infants: Understand the types of deafness with special reference to infants. 
• How the Ear Works: John Hopkins Medicine presents information on the workings of the ear.

Early Diagnosis & Intervention

• Early Diagnosis: The page discusses why the early diagnosis of hearing loss in children is so important.
• Early Childhood Intervention: The page explains the importance of early intervention and education for children with hearing problems. There’s also a list of programs, schools, and other resources.
• Screening: The Children’s Hearing Institute provides information on newborn hearing screening.
• Screening & Diagnosis: CDC offers information on hearing screening and full hearing test.
• Signs & Symptoms: UC San Francisco outlines the signs and symptoms of sensorineural hearing loss, conductive hearing loss, and mixed hearing loss.
• Screening Baby’s Hearing: The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders provide information on hearing loss in young children

Ways to Communicate

• ASL Browser: The Michigan State University provides a browser to learn many words of the American Sign Language.
• Fingerspelling: Come here to test your knowledge of ASL fingerspelling.
• Lip Reading: The UCSC discusses certain aspects of lip reading.
• Cued Speech: The official site of the National Cued Speech Association with information, videos, papers, resources, and more.
• Total Communication: The page provides an overview of this communication method for children with hearing loss.
• Auditory-Verbal Therapy: The paper by SYC Lim and J Simser explores the use of auditory-verbal therapy for hearing-impaired children.

Technological Assistance

• ASL Game: The page provides information on the development of a game to help deaf children learn the American Sign Language.
• Technology: Richard Ladner from the University of Washington offers information on technology for deaf people.
• Deaf Studies: Rochester Institute of technology provides web resources for deaf studies covering ASL, deaf education associations, deaf entertainment, deaf research facilities, and so on.
• Technology for Deaf Children: The page provides information on how to use technology to help deaf children with reference to the NDCS Listening Bus.
• Hearing Assistive Technology: The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association provides information on assistive listening devices.
• Cochlear Implants: The page explores the benefits of cochlear implants for children.

School Resources

• World Deaf Directory: The page provides a list of deaf schools in Canada, the United States, and around the world.
• NDEP: The official website of the National Deaf Education Project with national agenda, state reforms, and additional resources. 
• Options in Deaf Education: The article by Cheryl Zapien explores the various options for educating deaf children.
• Special Education: The Massachusetts Department of Elementary & Secondary Education provides deaf and hard of hearing educational resources for parents.
• Deaf Education: The University of Michigan offers a list of different types of deaf schools in North America.
• Beginnings: The website provides important resources for parents with deaf and hard of hearing children covering communication options, school issues, technology, legislation, and so on.
• Educational Resources: The Children’s Hearing Institute offers a resource guide for parents with deaf and hard of hearing children.

Online Resources and Organizations

• Internet Resources: The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children provides online resources for deaf and hard of hearing children.
• Deaf Planet: The website offers online games to help hearing impaired children learn ASL and more.
• Deaf Resource Library: The virtual library provides information and educational tools to help people understand deaf culture in the United States and Japan.
• ASDC: The official site of the American Society for Deaf Children offers news, resources, membership information, and more.
• AG Bell: The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing provides resources for parents, professionals, and hearing-impaired adults.
• NAD: The National Association of the Deaf offers information youth leadership, community, events, as well as resources.

Print Resources

• Deaf Books: The website specializes in publishing BSL books for deaf and hard of hearing children.
• Deaf & Sign Language Books: The University of New Mexico provides a list of deaf and sign language books.
• Hearing Health: Published by the Deafness Research Foundation, the magazine provides the latest news for the deaf and hard of hearing.
• American Annals of the Deaf: Published in 1847, this professional journal is one of the most popular journals on deafness
• Deaf Life: The homepage of the magazine for deaf people by deaf people.
• Journal of Deaf Studies & Deaf Education: Published by Oxford Journals, it offers top quality journals on the subject.

Outreach Communities & Support Group

• Outreach: The website provides outreach support for parents of deaf and hard of hearing children.
• Project Outreach: The Missouri School for the Deaf offers an outreach program to help parents work with their children.
• My Baby’s Hearing: One of the most well known support groups for parents with deaf and hard of hearing children.
• Daily Strength: A support group with discussions, news, photos, and more.
• Hands & Voices: The homepage of a national support group for parents with hearing-impaired children.
• Local Support: Come here to find a local chapter near you.