Socioemotional Development

Misconceptions

Considering that there are approximately 30 million deaf people in the United States, being deaf could very well be one of the most common disabilities in the country. Yet it is also one of the most misunderstood disabilities as assumptions are often made about deaf people not being as intelligent and capable as their hearing counterparts. For example, information about deaf children in the mid-20th century often portrayed them as hopeless children with emotional and behavioral issues and incapable of leading full and productive lives. Historically, deaf children were often misdiagnosed as intellectually disabled and placed in institutions for the mentally retarded. This is especially true for children who were not known to be deaf until later in life as there was no universal newborn screening at the time. Furthermore, deaf adults were represented negatively as immature, impulsive, self-centered, and so on.

We now know these views to be grossly inaccurate and misleading. For starters, the type of assessments used back then did not take into account that, for most deaf people, English is not their first language; nor did so-called [Page 898]medical professionals understand enough about deafness in order to be able to distinguish between a deaf person with mental health issues and a person who was only deaf. In the past, broad generalizations were applied to all deaf people based on the observations of a few. With the increasing amount of research being done over the last few decades on understanding disabilities, hearing people are beginning to understand that both deaf people and hearing people generally have similar socioemotional development with some different characteristics due to their hearing status, home environment, and upbringing. With the right supports in place, deaf children can become successful well-adjusted deaf adults with healthy socioemotional skills. In fact, many deaf adults today have positive self-esteem; take pride in being deaf; interact with a variety of people, deaf and hearing; and enjoy life despite encountering communication barriers and negative perspectives of hearing people.

What is different for deaf children and hearing children in terms of socioemotional development is that hearing babies are exposed to sounds before birth. This means that by the time most hearing babies are born, they already recognize a parent’s voice as the use of speech lends itself more readily to helping the baby and the mother develop an emotional bond. This is not to say the use of speech is the only effective way for a baby and mother to bond with one another and encourage positive socioemotional development for the baby. The use of visual and tactile cues can also support positive socioemotional development. A deaf baby can experience healthy socioemotional development in the absence of sound as long as the caregivers have a good understanding of what it means to be deaf and adjust to the child development. The fact that a child is deaf does not mean that he or she will be incapable of experiencing normal socioemotional development. It just means that there is a need for different strategies and support for the deaf child; it is the parents’ and family members’ response to having a deaf child, the availability of community resources for the deaf child and the family, and how much access to communication the deaf child is provided with that can make a difference.

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