Several parents recently asked about behaviour guidance for children who’re deaf or hard-of-hearing, so these insights and resources may help.
On the behaviour front, young children who’re deaf or hard-of-hearing can be harder to guide as they don’t always hear a particular tone of voice or verbal warning that another child might detect and respond to.
Quite often, these children are behind others in the area of discipline as they are still learning what’s socially accepted and what isn’t – they don’t learn by osmosis, and everyone can forget this until behaviour guidance is needed.
Parents addressing behaviour issues can use a mix of strategies like facial expressions of disapproval when a child acts out, or having a clear routine when the child is naughty (as in, time out), so they know this behaviour is unacceptable. And siblings will – usually – help to model good behaviour.
Some resources to read, on this topic:
Read: Positive Parenting Tips (Aussie Deaf Kids)
Certain children can be badly-behaved if their family treat them as ‘special’ due to their hearing issues. Like all children, they play on this till intervention is needed. Everyone is different, it’s a case of sifting through possible triggers for the behaviour and responding at a practical level.
Read: Parenting a deaf child – some tips (NDCS)
Toddler pushing is very common in young children. Often, it is frustration at not being able to communicate their feelings, or missing out on attention shared to a group. For others, this pushing (or hitting) is a response to behaviour they get from one or more other toddlers, maybe to establish who is ‘strongest’ in the group’s pecking order.
At this stage, the toddlers’ sense of self is developing and they can feel threatened by groups and/or others they don’t feel comfortable with. Luckily, this pushing isn’t always a sign of aggression – it can be a way to get attention from adults, even if the toddler behaves badly to get this.
More Reading
- Parent Question: Independence For A Deaf Child
- Question: Do Deaf Children Really Need A SNA?
- Learned Helplessness: When Less Support Is More
- Does Lip-Reading Benefit Infant Reading Ability?
- Keeping Hearing-Devices On Children
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