Parenting Children with Hearing Impairment: The Milieu of Parents’ Practices and Experiences

Abstract

The birth of a child with hearing impairment imposes more parental
demands than having a child without a disability. Parents have little concern
about the holistic growth and development of their children with hearing
disability. This study aspires to delineate the parental practice and experience in
dealing with behavioural problems of their children with hearing-impairments
in a Special School in Kano State, Nigeria. This study employed a qualitative
case study design in which interviews and observation were used to collect
the data. Purposeful sampling was utilised in selecting three fathers and three
mothers of children with hearing impairment. Data was recorded, transcribed
and thematically analysed in which categories were identified and generated.
The findings accentuated several major themes and categories of parental
practice and their experiences, which have to do with counselling the children
with hearing impairment. Parental experience includes the judgment of others
in the family and based on the findings, the researchers provide discernments to
parents, their children with hearing impairment, and the immediate community
where such children live.