Resilience from childhood to young adulthood: retrospective perspectives of deaf and hard of hearing people who studied in regular schools

Abstract

Objective: Most deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) youth grow up in hearing familial and educational environments, posing unique risks for their socio-emotional well-being. The study's objective was to explore protective processes contributing to resilience among DHH individuals in different life periods. Design: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 23 DHH young adults on their life-long coping with having a hearing loss (HL). Main outcome measures: Thematic analysis identified, according to participants' retrospective perceptions, processes that supported their positive adjustment from childhood up to early adulthood. Results: Themes were organised at three ecological levels: individual, including five subthemes (e.g. certain attitudes to HL); family, including various types of parental support; and community, including four subthemes (e.g. extra-curricular activities). Family and community level resources enabled and nurtured personal attitudes and coping abilities. The perceptions of which personal attitudes and contextual resources were helpful changed from childhood to young adulthood. Conclusions: Findings show how resilience is heterogeneously promoted in the unique context of DHH individuals living in hearing environments. They also show interactions between the individual, family and wider society and the dynamics of coping resources across time. Findings indicate the important of considering DHH individuals' coping choices in their specific life context.

The Role of Social Capital in the Transition to Postsecondary Education of Students Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

“…Connections with DHH people through activities such as formal mentoring programs, informal mentoring relationships, and residential camps had played an important role in the lives of several of these young people, who spoke enthusiastically about them in terms of both friendships and role models. The benefits of deaf connections for high school students who do not have DHH peers at school, as was the case for the present study's participants, have been well documented in contemporary research and include factors such as increased self-confidence and higher life aspirations (Cawthon et al, 2016;Devine et al, 2015;Eichengreen et al, 2021). However, not all the participants had had opportunities for these experiences, and it is possible that some of these students' expressed reluctance to disclose their hearing loss or accept supports may have been overcome earlier had they experienced the benefits of a social network of DHH peers and role models during adolescence.…”

“…Although the participants in the present study were high-achieving students who had attained university admission and had benefited from robust social capital facilitators, they had also experienced potential barriers. The first, which we termed reluctance, is common among DHH adolescents who do not want to appear different from their hearing peers, and often involves a hesitancy or even refusal to accept supports related to their deafness (Eichengreen et al, 2021;Terlektsi et al, 2020). The participants reported having overcome this reluctance, but for some it had continued into their university studies, with the potential to limit their achievement.…”

Teaching of the Quran and Hadiths Using Sign Language to Islamic Boarding School Students with Hearing Impairment

“…This can be seen in the students' enthusiasm for reading and memorizing the Quran, which they do continuously. Eichengreen et al (2022) explained that most children with hearing impairment live in an environment where most individuals can hear. They show their resilience when they can interact with other individuals, their family, and wider society.…”

Exploring the Strategies to Empower the Mothers of Adolescent Girls with Hearing Impairment to Deal with their Social and Emotional Problems

“…The literature shows that hearing impairment impacts language development, communication, and academic performance (Eichengreen, Zaidman-Zait, Most, & Golik, 2022). In addition, compared with girls with normal hearing, girls with mild or severe hearing impairment displayed lower scores on short-term and sequential memory, attention, language, and verbal and nonverbal IQ tests.…”