assist the school with their understanding of what may be needed to help their young child hear optimally at school. Making sure that your child has access to what is being taught in the school environment will need to be monitored across time.

For children enrolled in kindergarten or higher grades, much of the focus is making sure that your child has the same opportunities for learning as all children. Parents will find themselves in the role of advocate, and will share the role increasingly with their child, as the child grows. For children who are deaf or hard of hearing and who have any academic delays, or who are at risk for academic delay, will benefit from having an Individualized Education Program (IEP), which is outlined on a legal document called the Individualized Education Plan. Among other IEP components, a child’s goals, accommodations (including hearing technology that allows the child to hear clearly), modifications, and placement for each coming school year, should be listed. Children who are performing at or above grade level often have a 504 Plan rather than an IEP. Every child’s situation, levels of function and needs for support vary, thus the plan for that child should be individualized as well. Parents and their children who are deaf or hard of hearing have legal rights at every juncture of their early intervention and school experience, and may need to exercise those rights to make sure the child has a free and appropriate public education

"MORE THAN 90 PERCENT OF PARENTS HAVE NO EXPERIENCE WITH HEARING LOSS IN THEIR FAMILY. THIS CAN MAKE A FAMILY FEEL ALONE, BUT THE GOOD NEWS IS, THERE ARE MANY GOOD RESOURCES AND MUCH CAN BE DONE TO HELP A CHILD WITH HEARING LOSS GROW AND THRIVE."

LOTS OF QUESTIONS

Understandably, parents have many questions. More than 90 percent of parents have no experience with hearing loss in their family. This can make a family feel alone, but the good news is, there are many good resources and much can be done to help a child with hearing loss grow and thrive. Because there is so much available information, parents will find it helpful to ask some of the following questions as they sort through the many resources.

Once engaged in their search for information and related services, parents may find that some individuals around them have very strong opinions, particularly related to communication strategies. These strong opinions can feel like validation when they are in line with parental plans, but when not, may cause anxiety and cause a parent to question their decisions. Parents are the only people in a child's life who have the right, role, and responsibility to make decisions for their child/children. While others' opinions might be helpful, as a parent gathers information, and will help in their decision-making process, ultimately these decisions belong to the child's parents. This make sense, as parents know their child better than others and are in the best position to make decisions for their child. Parents should feel free to talk with as many people as they wish, and to connect with any and all resources as they learn about and live with hearing loss. As individuals, we process information

in a variety of ways, and so there is no one best way for all parents to sort through the information and come to important decisions for their children. As parents receive and review information for a decision that needs to be made now or to tuck away for later, they will want to evaluate the quality of the information. For that purpose, the following questions might be helpful:

1. What or who is the source of this written or spoken information?
2. Does the source have professional or personal expertise about hearing loss? If professional, do they have specialized, deep knowledge, skills and experience related to childhood hearing loss in particular? If personal expertise, does this individual’s story relate to my child and family, and if so, what takeaways are there? Remember that one person’s story is one person’s story. A child who is deaf or hard of hearing and born in 2023 generally has different (usually better) access to intervention resources than a child born in 1985.
3. Is the information sourced from opinions or facts? Would the author or speaker be willing and able to share their sources (if not already available)? Anything stated as fact should have evidence (data, research) that backs up that statement.
4. Is the information shared by the professional directly related to interaction with or testing on my child and their performance, progress or skill levels gained by working with them, versus a blanket statement about all children who are deaf or hard of hearing?
5. Does the information appear to have a bias? If so, does the author openly disclose that bias in some way? For example, there are organizations in the field of hearing loss that focus on one particular communication strategy, versus all available communication strategies. Organizations often have a primary focus to allow for more specialization and provide deeper knowledge and resources to the public. Biased resources can be helpful, but parents will need to review other resources as well to make sure they are “getting the whole picture” related to childhood hearing loss, especially for children who have the same type and degree of hearing loss as their own child.
6. Last, but often most important, parents should do a gut check as they receive and process new information, by asking themselves questions such as, “Does this statement ring true?” “Does this information make sense?” “Do I feel funny or ill at ease about this information or source?” “Does the statement made or opinion shared about my child seem like a good fit?”

A GOOD PLACE TO START: ONE PARENT'S STORY

There are many quality resources available for families. A mother, Chelsea (name changed), shared this story with AG Bell, "On Veteran's Day 2020, I felt depressed after learning that my daugh