Don't Criticize the Parents

A recent guest column in the Motherlode blog published in the New York Times, by a mother whose seven-year-old daughter was diagnosed as having a hearing loss two years ago, has generated many comments. Some of the comments on the column "Life After a Child's Diagnosis" reflect a lack of understanding on people's part. The mother's feelings are actually normal as she struggles to accept the reality of her life, and her child's life. My comment is #61, and it was submitted via my cell phone, so I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors.

In a way, I can identify with this mother because of what happened when I was a young girl. I had just had yet another hearing test. While I waited, I noticed the audiologist talking to my mother about the latest results, which showed I was continuing to lose hearing. I lipread my mother saying, "Jamie has so little hearing left!" and saw she looked somewhat sad. At the time, I wondered why she was sad, because to me as a kid, losing more hearing was no big deal. I think that was the first time I realized I was possibly going to become totally deaf. I did become totally deaf as an adult.