Parent support
Your assistance to complete the assessments and the accompanying planners is critical for this guide to be useful. Take some time to become familiar with the various materials and resources in each section. This will enable you to guide and assist your son/daughter through these materials.
- Help your teenager gather all relevant information to understand technology and accommodation needs
- Encourage your son or daughter to consult the professionals they work with e.g. teachers, audiologists, school counselors, to determine the most appropriate hearing assistive technology
- Remind them to include written recommendations to all entities involved
Promoting Self-Advocacy
It’s important to understand the challenges teens with hearing loss can experience, such as:
- Social and emotional problems,
- Lower reading and writing skills,
- Frustration and anger related to communication barriers,
- Social isolation
- Increased self-consciousness.
If a teen or young adult is dealing with any or all of these problems, the ability to advocate for oneself is compromised.
Once a person has a relatively healthy acceptance of his/her hearing loss, the basic foundation for beginning self-advocacy is in place. There are several tools in this program to assist in this process of building the foundation for teens to become confident and be in control of their communication accommodations.
Important considerations
Rights of People who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing
There are important regulations that provide specific services and accommodations for individuals with hearing loss.
Funding
Investigate local funding resources and possible available benefits for personal hearing instruments, assistive technology, college and job training as well as other potential services. It is important to remember that securing funding and appropriate hearing assistance technology can be a difficult process to manage.