Nottinghamshire mum raises awareness of hidden challenges facing deaf children
New campaign highlights how children with hearing loss can struggle despite appearing to thrive at school and socially
A Nottinghamshire mum is sharing her experience of raising her six-year-old daughter, Matilda, who has profound hearing loss in one ear, as a new campaign highlights the challenges that can often go unnoticed in deaf children.
Matilda is a confident “social butterfly” who enjoys reading and gymnastics and is doing well at school. However, she can struggle to identify where sounds are coming from, particularly in noisy environments such as classrooms and playgrounds.
Her mum, Laura, who also has hearing loss, admits she can sometimes forget how much harder her daughter has to work to navigate everyday situations.
Their story comes as the National Deaf Children’s Society launches its ‘What You See, What You Don’t’ campaign, aiming to raise awareness of the hidden impact of mild deafness and hearing loss in one ear.
Research by the charity found that 72% of people believe it can be difficult to recognise when a child has mild deafness or hearing loss in one ear, while just 31% know the signs to look out for.
Only 36% believe these conditions can have a significant impact on a child’s daily life, despite the difficulties they can cause with following conversations, concentrating in lessons and keeping up with peers.
The research also highlighted the challenges of noisy environments, with 67% recognising that a child could struggle to follow conversations in a busy classroom.
Emma Motherwell, Community Activism Lead at the charity, said children may appear to be listening and keeping up while actually working much harder to understand what is happening around them.
The campaign will share experiences from families and young people with hearing loss to help others understand the difference between what they see and what a child may be experiencing.