Silent cartoon proved a breakthrough
A SUPPORT program in the district trains children to help parents who are deaf. In the past two years it has offered support to 25 families.
Xiao Min has normal hearing but her parents and grandparents are all deaf.
When Pan Haiying from the district rehabilitation training center for the disabled visited Xiao’s home she was shocked to find Xiao was watching a cartoon show but with no sound.
The girl had no idea until then that a TV show could have sound before Pan visited her.
Pan and her colleagues decided to help Xiao but the little girl always kept her mouth tightly closed and was unwilling to answer them.
During the first and second visits, she said no more than 10 words. However, social workers found she liked drawing.
They gave her a set of color pens on the third visit and won her trust.
That was when they found Xiao was accustomed to expressing her feelings through drawing.
She drew different pictures to reflect her feelings, including an attempt to stop a quarrel between her parents and her willingness to be around by her parents.
Social workers tailored a solution for Xiao.
They suggested her parents spend some time with her — at least two hours a day.
Xiao became more and more outgoing and one day spoke loudly in front of a crowd at a road show “Mom and Dad, I love you!”
The visit to Xiao’s home led to the establishment of the support program. “We hope the program becomes a bridge between the hearing children and their deaf parents and let the children grow up healthy and confident,” Pan said.
“On the other hand we wish they will be really helpful to their parents through their normal hearing.”
Pan and her colleagues hold regular activities and sign language classes to strengthen the ties between the children and their parents.
The now well established program has raised public awareness and won national awards.
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