Children who are deaf or hard of hearing on a Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) path need a language-rich home environment to learn to listen and talk. And while parents receive the bulk of this instruction and support, the role of involved family members is also crucial. In particular, grandparents have a special role to play as they can provide loving support to both the child with hearing loss and the child’s parents.
That support can take many forms, whether grandparents live in the home with the child or many hours away.
Leighton, age seven, was diagnosed with severe to profound hearing loss at birth and receives services from the Clarke team in Florida. Her parents, Nina and Spencer, say that all of Leighton’s grandparents have been deeply involved with her — and especially with supporting her language acquisition — despite not living nearby.
“They have been there for her from the beginning — even driving hours to come take care of her after her cochlear implant surgeries,” Nina says. “Leighton knows she is very loved.” Among the things they’ve done over the years are participating in support groups, taking ASL classes, and visiting Leighton’s Clarke class when they are in town.
A key part of Clarke’s program is finding ways to bolster LSL skills during regular day-to-day play and activities, and perhaps no one in a child’s life is better positioned to do that than grandparents. While primary caregivers have to balance play and household responsibilities, grandparents often have more flexibility to engage in the kinds of intentional play that builds children’s language and cognitive skills.
Nina notes that when they’re in town, all of Leighton’s grandparents make a point to spend time having fun with Leighton, always bringing educational games or making up their own games to play with her and reading with her before bed.
“Leighton’s parents have taught her to read at bedtime. When we’re there, she reads to us and then we read to her — it’s a two-way street,” says Tacia Dawson, Nina’s mother. “We enjoy that opportunity to be involved and have fun with her, and we know that literacy is so important for children with hearing loss.”
Nina’s father, Tom Dawson, agrees. “When we visit, Leighton’s my play buddy. We have a great time just playing games with her.” When they aren’t there in person, Tom, Tacia, and her other grandparents, Heather and Hugh McIntosh, are still engaged. “We always try to think of creative ways to encourage Leighton,” Tom says. “We write her letters and send gifts; we’ll get on Facetime to talk. We try to be as involved as we can be even when we aren’t there.”
“Leighton’s parents have taught her to read at bedtime. When we’re there, she reads to us and then we read to her — it’s a two-way street. We enjoy that opportunity to be involved and have fun with her, and we know that literacy is so important for children with hearing loss.”
Tom believes those visits and Facetime chats provide Leighton with another language-related benefit — adapting to different accents. Tom hails from Michigan and sports a midwestern accent; Tacia is originally from Palau in the western Pacific. “Leighton gets used to listening to her parents and other people in her area. With our accents, I feel like she gets a broader spectrum of language examples,” he adds.
Besides their hands-on involvement with Leighton, her grandparents have all been involved in fundraising for Clarke to help support the school that supports Leighton and her family.
“They have done an amazing job at Clarke,” says Tacia. “I love them all! They are so professional and friendly, and we’ve seen such growth from Leighton. She’s a different child.”
How Grandparents Can Support Parents
For most families, when a young child is diagnosed with hearing loss, it comes as a shock and parents may be scrambling to deal with both practical matters of medical appointments and figuring out how to communicate with their child, as well as dealing with their own complicated emotions.
Here too, grandparents can be a terrific support system for parents who need someone to confide in, ask for advice or babysit for a few hours.
“Leighton is our first granddaughter. When Nina told us that the baby was deaf, we were there immediately to be there emotionally and physically,” says Tom.
Having grandparents who are there (physically or emotionally), has benefited the entire family. “My parents have been extremely reliable and helpful throughout Leighton’s journey,” says Nina. “I know I can call them if I need help and they’ll be here within hours. Knowing that we have such supportive and dependable family allows us to better support Leighton day to day.”
Because Tom and Tacia don’t see Leighton every day, they’re sometimes able to see more clearly the progress she’s making. Grandparents who aren’t nearby can still make connections with their family through video calls—reading books together, playing peekaboo, guessing animal names based on sounds, chatting about their days or singing songs.
“We tell Nina all the time the changes we see — how clearly Leighton speaks, how much more she is speaking, how much better her articulation is, how much larger her vocabulary is — since our last visit,” says Tom. “She always appreciates hearing it.”
Everyone who cares about a child with hearing loss can play a role in helping them learn to listen and speak. And that help can take as many different forms as there are family arrangements. Whether grandparents are in-house or on the other side of the world, there are many ways they can support their child and grandchild. That can be the crucial work of childcare, bringing in their own parenting and/or professional experiences or being a sympathetic ear to a parent who needs one.
Ideas for Grandparents Who Want to Become More Involved
“Grandparents can support their grandchild’s language development in numerous ways,” says Alisa Demico, MS, CCC-SLP, LSLS, Cert. AVT, director of Clarke Florida. “The important thing is finding what feels natural and fun. This will help establish strong connections and foster language development.”
Here are tips for grandparents interested in supporting their grandchild’s LSL development:
- With infants, encourage babbling. Adults can do this by making eye contact with the infant, responding to sounds they make as if in conversation and singing to them.
- Use repetition: Repeat back what the child says and add extra information.
- Ask open-ended questions like, “What’s in this toy bin?” or “How did you draw that?”
- Pay attention to the level of background noise, which will make it harder for the child to access the sounds of speech. Try to create quiet, distraction-free environment when possible.
- Engage in face-to-face activities as much as possible. Know that it will be more difficult for the child to communicate with you when they cannot see your face and facial expressions. This applies to video call as well; it’s essential that the child you’re speaking to can see your whole face as you communicate.
- Learn about the child’s hearing technology. Find out how their hearing tech works and what you can do to support when needed—like changing hearing aid batteries.
- Ask about the child’s program at Clarke! Find out what Clarke professionals have suggested for creating language-rich environments at home to support your family’s approach to language acquisition.
More Resources
Find more in-depth strategies for each stage along the way with this Clarke resource: “How to Create a Rich Learning Environment at Home—for Children at All Stages.”
