Mentors and Role Models

Mentors and role models provide children with a person they can identify with, look up to, and emulate. Because human beings are inherently social creatures who develop their sense of self through interactions with others, having a mentor or a role model can help children begin to learn more about who they are. Mentoring and role modeling also help children develop and emulate the values and morals of their home and community and learn about their culture. For deaf children, this is especially crucial, as there are unique experiences involved in growing up deaf that cannot be shared with hearing children, especially in a world that views deafness as a medical condition rather than a cultural one. While deaf children progress through the same stages ...