Understanding the parental experiences of raising deaf children in Ghana
- 16 September 2020
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Taylor & Francis Ltd in Journal of Family Studies
- Vol. 28 (4), 1235-1254
- https://doi.org/10.1080/13229400.2020.1815557
Abstract
Effective parenting promotes the physical, emotional, mental and social well-being of children. However, communication barriers between hearing parents and their deaf children can hinder these children’s upbringing and deprive them of the benefits of parental care and support services. While much is known about the challenges faced by persons with disabilities in Ghana, there is a dearth of knowledge about the parental experiences of raising deaf children. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 hearing parents of deaf children (3–15 years) to determine how they provided personal care to their deaf children, the support survices available to them and the challenges they faced. The participants spoke about their inability to communicate with their deaf children because they lacked sign language proficiency. This has had adverse impacts on the ability of most of the participants to provide basic skills training or determine their deaf children’s needs. We discuss the need to develop comprehensive support programmes to equip parents with skills to raise their deaf children.Keywords
This publication has 47 references indexed in Scilit:
- Sexual and reproductive health needs assessment with deaf people in Ghana: Methodological challenges and ethical concernsAfrican Journal of Disability, 2013
- Knowledge and use of contraceptive methods amongst deaf people in GhanaAfrican Journal of Disability, 2013
- “The Gong Gong Was Beaten” —Adamorobe: A “Deaf Village” in Ghana and Its Marriage Prohibition for Deaf PartnersSustainability, 2012
- Predicting Spanish–English Bilingual Children’s Language AbilitiesJournal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 2012
- Conceptualising disability in Ghana: implications for EFA and inclusive educationInternational Journal of Inclusive Education, 2011
- Parenting Stress Among Parents of Deaf and Hearing Children: Associations with Language Delays and Behavior ProblemsParenting, 2010
- Mothers’ Socialization of Emotion Regulation: The Moderating Role of Children’s Negative Emotional ReactivityChild & Youth Care Forum, 2008
- Information about support services for families of young children with hearing loss: A review of some useful outcomes and challengesDeafness & Education International, 2008
- Begging as work: a study of people with mobility difficulties in Accra, GhanaDisability & Society, 2008
- Determining Validity in Qualitative InquiryTheory Into Practice, 2000