Counseling for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People

Hearing loss affects individuals in various ways, each with their unique issues from the newly diagnosed child to the adult who has lost hearing as a result of a brain tumor to the senior citizen who has hearing loss as a result of aging. Even within the parameters of childhood hearing loss, there is a wide range of educational opportunities from mainstreaming to the self contained classroom.  Parents must deal with the often overwhelming array of choices in educational methodologies such as cued speech, total communication, auditory-verbal training and ASL only classrooms.

Adults  with late onset hearing loss from illness, accidents or hereditary factors must deal with the  grief and the loss of control that often comes with it.   Many symptoms of hearing loss in older people can often be confused with Alzheimer’s such as disorientation (due to balance problems),  depression, isolation, forgetfulness (due to not hearing the original information), and social withdrawal.  Families with aging parents often don’t know whether to speak louder, or enunciate more or, worse, assume that the person has become senile or is showing signs of dementia.

Whatever the challenge may be, counseling can help individuals and their families learn to adjust to how hearing loss affects them in more positive ways.