Lived experiences of deaf parents: Insights into pride, community, bilingualism, and barriers

Victoria St. Clair^1*Patrick Rosenburg²Evelyne Mercure³

• ¹Center for Brain and Cognitive Development, Birkbeck, University of London, London, United Kingdom
• ²Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, England, United Kingdom
• ³Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London, London, London, United Kingdom

Becoming a parent is a deeply personal process that changes the dynamics of one's social and psychological worlds, and exists within the context of one's cultural and, for those who give birth, medical background. Little is known about how those who identify as deaf experience navigating resources, medical and educational professionals, and support systems in parenthood. This study investigates the lived experiences of N = 37 deaf parents using reflexive thematic analysis. Four primary themes were constructed from the data. The first was that many deaf parents felt a clear sense of pride and confidence in themselves and in their children. It was also obvious that deaf parents benefitted from the support of their family, friends, and their communities. A third theme was the importance and sometimes the challenges of navigating children's bimodal bilingualism for deaf parents. Finally, deaf parents faced some common barriers: accessing information and support, experiencing prejudice and discrimination, and expending extra energy and stress whilst advocating for themselves and their children. Overall, this study offers important insight into the experiences of deaf parents, shedding new light on the ways in which deaf parents access information and professionals related to child development, and about their experiences in parenthood overall.