What Makes Good Health Care for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Kids?
- Marshall Hurst
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
If you are raising a deaf or hard of hearing child, you have met a lot of doctors. And you have probably wondered what good care is even supposed to look like. A new paper in Pediatric Annals gives a clear answer. Good care starts with language. It listens to families. And it learns from deaf and hard of hearing people themselves.
The paper was led by Dr. Arielle Spellun, a pediatrician, with a team that includes deaf doctors, a Deaf researcher, a Deaf school leader and parent of a hard of hearing child, and a parent of a deaf child. That mix is the point. The people who wrote it have lived this, not just studied it.
Care should start with language
About 1 to 2 of every 1,000 children in the United States are born deaf or hard of hearing. Every one of them needs full access to a language early in life. That access is what builds everything else: thinking, reading, friendships, school. When a language is missing or only half there, the harm can last. Researchers call it language deprivation.
So the authors ask doctors to put language first. The idea is simple. A child needs a full language early, whether that is American Sign Language, spoken language with hearing technology, or both. Sign language is not the backup plan you turn to when other things fail. It is a complete language, and it gives a child full access from the start.
We have found the same thing in our own research at the Deaf Center. Learning a sign language does not hold back a child's spoken language. Kids can have both.
The doctor's job is to connect, not to know everything
Most families trust their child's regular doctor. But no pediatrician is expected to be an expert on being deaf, and the paper says so plainly. That takes the pressure off everyone.
The doctor's real job is to connect the family to the right people early:
Early intervention, which brings in teachers, therapists, and deaf mentors.
Deaf adults and peer mentors, who share knowledge you can only get from living it.
Parent-to-parent support, so no family feels alone.
Skilled interpreters, including Certified Deaf Interpreters, so families and kids can take full part in their own care.
Learn from deaf people and their families
Here is the part the paper makes hardest to ignore: the best care includes deaf and hard of hearing people. A deaf mentor can teach a family to sign in a warm, personal way. A deaf adult shows a child a picture of their own future. And parents are the real experts on their own child.
The authors also walk through the history that shaped care today, including the long damage done by banning sign language in schools. Their answer is to do the opposite now: value what the deaf community knows, and pass that strength to the next generation.
What this means for families
Ask your child's doctor to help you find early intervention, deaf mentors, and other families. Ask for interpreters at visits. And expect your child to thrive. A delay should never get brushed aside just because a child is deaf.
What this means for professionals
Ask, don't assume. Ask how a family describes their child and what communication works for them. Build accessibility into the clinic on purpose, not as a scramble at the last minute. Speak straight to the child. Keep your expectations high.
The bottom line
Deaf and hard of hearing kids thrive. Good care treats being deaf as a normal part of human difference, keeps language at the center, and learns from the people who know this life best.
Key takeaways
Language comes first. Full, early access to a language, including sign language, protects a child's development.
Sign language is not a last resort. It is a complete language, and it does not hold back spoken language.
Doctors are connectors. Their key job is linking families to early intervention, mentors, and support.
Lived experience belongs in the room. Deaf adults, deaf professionals, and parents make care better.
Keep expectations high. With the right support, deaf and hard of hearing children thrive.
Based on: Spellun, A., Crume, B., Finley, A., Fleming, J., Hopkins, K., & Stewart, J. (2026). Centering lived experience: Inclusive pediatric care for children who are deaf and hard of hearing and their families. Pediatric Annals, 55(7), e260-e269. Written from the full published article.
