It Requires a Community to Raise a Deaf Adult: A Comparative Study

It has often been said, “It takes a village to raise a child”; likewise for deaf children born into hearing families, this village model provides the support necessary for optimal developmental outcomes for the child. Here a mixed method design was used to understand the outcomes for deaf adults who grew up a mid-size community with fragmented services in order to better understand what worked and what had not worked for these individuals. Results from a survey and follow up interviews identified two groups of individuals, those who stayed in the community having access only to the local resources and those who left the community finding more resources. In general, those who stayed described themselves as hard of hearing and used a mixture of sign and spoken language while those who left identified as Deaf and reported finding a Deaf community that provided them role models, aspirational capital, and a Deaf identity. Results are discussed using the frame of integrating support for families, effective schooling, and transition services. Recommendations are made to support the creation of such villages for deaf children in areas that may not have sufficient resources.