Raising a Deaf Child - My Parents Share How They Found Out I Was Deaf & How They Raised Me

Video Description

Finding out your baby / child is deaf can be devastating- but it’s not the end of the world. In this video, my parents share their experience of finding out I was born deaf and their journey raising me in the hearing world.  Did you know that many hearing parents of deaf children do not learn sign language to communicate with their deaf child? Yeah, really!! I was really lucky that mine did. Growing up, I had so many people- like teachers, interpreters, people working in the deaf education field, etc. tell me all the time how lucky I was to have my parents learning sign language to communicate with me. They were amazed at how well my parents handled having a deaf baby and raising a deaf child with no prior knowledge about the deaf community and sign language.  I, myself, can’t imagine what it’s like to find out that your baby was born deaf. But I DO know that it’s not the end of the world. I was born deaf and was raised by hearing parents and I turned out okay. ;-) And my hope is that this video will reach new hearing parents to share and encourage that it’s not the end of the world if your baby is deaf. It will have some tough moments, but it’s all about perspective and learning how to adjust and live a little differently.  I wanted to interview my parents to share their story- what it was like finding out that their baby was deaf and what it was like to raise a deaf child - and also to share what they decided to do and why they made the decisions they made in hopes that hearing parents of deaf babies / children would find this and be encouraged and help them make more informed decisions. Back then, my parents didn’t have anyone to ask, & couldn't even Google it- as there wasn’t internet in 1989 when I was born. My hope with this video is that hearing parents can make more informed and educated decisions for their deaf baby / child.  I hope you enjoyed the interview!! :)  If you have any questions related to the interview video or just questions in general, feel free to comment below in the comment section. :)  ALSO- please note that this is an interview, NOT a sign language lesson. My parents’ signing is not perfect as my mom said in the interview video. They’ve made some mistakes in signing and I even signed some signs wrong ON PURPOSE so that they would understand me!! ;-)  For basic American Sign Language (ASL) lessons, watch the 25 Basic ASL Signs video series: Part 1- https://youtu.be/Raa0vBXA8OQ Part 2- https://youtu.be/OtiZqSHawXo Part 3- https://youtu.be/ZR5oVj9wJ_Y More interview videos coming soon!! Be sure to subscribe and turn on notifications so you don’t miss a video!! :) P.S. If you’re on Instagram too, come join us on @SignedWithHeart and learn a sign or two everyday. :)