TITLE:
The Deaf Mentor Program: Benefits to Families
AUTHORS:
Beth Hamilton, M. Diane M. Clark
KEYWORDS:
Deaf Mentor, Deaf Crit, Early Intervention, Medical & Socio-Cultural Perspectives, Grounded Theory
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.11 No.5,
May
28,
2020
ABSTRACT: Most Deaf children are born to hearing parents, who have little to no experience with Deaf people, their language, or their culture. These parents struggle with how to raise a Deaf infant who responds primarily to visual rather than auditory information. A program called Deaf Mentors was developed to connect these hearing families with a Deaf adult who is trained in how to effectively help parents learn visual strategies and if desired sign language to facilitate early language acquisition. This study, using a grounded theory methodology, investigated the perceptions of hearing families who had a Deaf Mentor. Results found that these Deaf Mentors helped families create a context that provided the Keys to a High Quality of Life for Deaf Children. Importantly, the program provided a new perspective that allowed families to understand that their Deaf child was different but not broken.