My top tips for reading with my deaf daughter
Since a very young age, I’ve always had my nose stuck in a good book. My mother thought I was a genius child when I read a whole book at age two. The only time they realized I had memorized it was when the pages were stuck together.
My daughter was born, and I wanted to share my love for reading with her. Isabelle’s deafness was evident from an early age, but she had to go through all the normal hoops until she was implanted (and then aided) at eight weeks. In the meantime, I did not want to wait any longer to introduce Isabelle to the magic written word.
This was not going to work for us as Isabelle needed to be able to see our faces in order to lip-read and gauge all of the non-verbal data involved when reading. It was not practical for us to do this, as Isabelle needed to be able to see our faces in order to lip-read. She also needed to gauge the non-verbal that is involved with reading. The dramatic “uh-oh!” of We Are Going on a Bear Hunt, or the sadness expressed at the beginning of Monkey Puzzle as the main character cannot find their mother. We face each other to draw Isabelle’s eye upwards. My husband and I have become experts at reading upside-down!
We always make sure there’s no background noise when we read to give her the best environment for hearing us. When we read, we make sure that there is no background noise to ensure she can listen to us.
Isabelle and I chose to speak as well as a sign from the start, so we also signed keywords on the books. It was particularly useful during the month Isabelle recovered from her implant surgery when she did not have hearing technology. This actually improved her focus and eye contact. We choose books that we know she will be able to tell us about. Animal books are a good choice. You can ask her, “Can you find Isabelle the elephant?” or “What’s that?” We will then point out the pictures and ask her, “What is this? This helps her express her knowledge while keeping her interest.
Julia Donaldson’s books, such as Snail and the Whale and Smartest Giant of Town, are favorites. The books are full of wonderful illustrations that will help her expand her vocabulary. Isabelle will be interested in the text and images. As a member of the adult deaf community, I understand how difficult it can be to focus on listening. It can be difficult for a deaf young child to focus on reading a story. Too much text can make it hard.
It’s great to have books with repeated phrases. We use sound books like Dear Zoo to help Isabelle identify sounds. As a family, one of the highlights of our day is reading Brown Bear -What Do You See?, her bedtime story. When I see her still engrossed in the book that we have read 100 times, I know it was worth every effort. We now have a new bookworm in our family!
