1. You are a mother first; a mother who helps her child by bringing, in language into everyday situations.2. Home life is of foremost importance. Try not to change it into a school or to fit it around the child with a hearing impairment. The other children are just as important, and need your attention too.
3. Your child is a child first (with the same basic needs as a hearing child) and hearing impaired second. Be aware of normal child development.
4. Be careful not to attribute all of his/her behaviour to the hearing loss.
5. You will receive advice on how to help your child from many sources. Listen, then do what YOU think is best. Remember who is speaking, their knowledge of your personal situation and of hearing impairment. YOU know your child better than anyone else. Remember you will always receive criticism from someone.
6. Work with your child the way that is best for you and him/her. Don't feel that you must follow all suggestions or that you have to be like another person. Feel free to adapt ideas to your own approach.
7. Do not try to do everything at once. Do what you feel is most important and do it well. Gradually work up to more and more. Quality rather than Quantity.
8. The key to working with your child is to be natural - in language, voice and expression. Keep language and expectations geared to what you would give a hearing child of the same age.
9. Try to put yourself in the child's place - emotionally, physically and communicatively.
10. Try not to interrupt the child's natural home activities while bringing in language.
11. Talk about what your child is interested in rather than what you are concerned with at the time. In order to be learned, language must be meaningful and useful to the child.
12. Keep a notebook of your child's language development and of any incident you feel is worth noting. (It helps on days when you feel discouraged).
13. Keep in close contact with your child's teacher, therapist or public health nurse. (You may want to keep an experience notebook to reinforce the same language at home and at school).
14. Be careful of clinic hopping and of advertisements. If you hear about something new regarding deafness, ask a professional (ear specialist. audiologist, teacher of the deaf, etc.) you trust about it. If it is something good, the professional will want to know about it. If it is something bad, the professional will want to alert other parents to beware of it.
15. Give your child a chance to develop by giving them some responsibilities (putting toys away, feeding the dog, carrying dishes from the table, making the bed etc.) Make sure the task is something you feel comfortable about having them do and is within their limits. Give them a chance to develop special abilities and interests. Give them a chance to feel independent by letting them complete tasks alone. (This will help build self confidence).
16. Don't allow members of the family to cater to the handicap. (Don't let them baby them, give into them, over-indulge or overprotect them.) For example, giving the last piece of dessert, or bringing a special toy just because he/she is deaf.
17. Be as consistent as possible with your child. They must know what to expect from you and believe that you do what you say. If you are not consistent, the child will not respect your decision and will test you more often.
18. Fit your expression with what you are saying.
19. Be sure to have your child's eyes checked. Do not assume your child has good eyesight because he/she has to primarily depend on it.
20. If you treat your child as handicapped, they may become handicapped. They have a hearing impairment. The handicap is what we as parents and teachers place on the child by limiting their activities and by underexpecting from them. If you treat him/her differently - they may act differently.