Building resilience and confidence is critical for all children, but especially for children with hearing loss who need to work harder to develop listening and language skills.
Here are some practical strategies to help boost your child’s resilience.
1. Ensure your child doesn’t feel “different” from hearing children
Talk to your child about diversity and differences in positive ways. We all have strengths and weaknesses and it can help to model positive strengths-based language early on in a child’s life.
Parent tip 1
“We have always told our daughter that we are all different and with different capacities. Some of us need glasses, others have diabetes, others cannot walk, but we can all thrive and exploit our abilities.” Ana Laura, mother of Ana Regina, who has a cochlear implant.
2. Build listening and language skills daily
Help your child build their communication skills—which in turn will build their confidence—by talking, singing and commenting on what’s going on every time you do a daily activity.
Parent tip 2
“We did at home what we learned in therapy, every day at the same time. It was all through play. We were always carrying colored pencils, my daughter’s notebook, and flash cards. Singing was also an excellent learning strategy. Whenever we were in the car or walking or in the supermarket—any time was good to sing and stimulate her language.” – Ana Laura, mother of Ana Regina, who has a cochlear hearing implant.
3. Let children do things for themselves
It’s tempting to step in and take over when your child is struggling, but let children learn for themselves. It is only by experimenting (and failing) that children will learn strategies to cope with challenging situations. Making mistakes is what helps us learn.
Parent tip 3
“We have helped our children demonstrate that they can do things and that I should not do for them what they can do for themselves. We should never think they can’t do something, because they CAN. Let’s tell them they can and help them to do it.” – Ana Laura
4. Celebrate successes
It’s so important to celebrate your child’s successes, no matter how big or small. Take a moment to think about something your child has learned to do recently—and it doesn’t have to be a listening or communication skill. It can be anything your child has done that has made you smile.
5. Remember, you know your child best
You know the most about your child. Work with your audiologist/speech therapist to help your child reach their potential and build on their capabilities.
Learn more about Brielle and her success with her cochlear implant here.
