Importance of Community for Deaf Children

By Alicia Teasley and Erika Teasley, Washington H&V

Being Deaf in a hearing world has its challenges and unique experiences. We are sisters from Seattle, Washington who are Deaf. We attended schools in which we were always around Deaf peers. We graduated from the University of Washington with bachelor’s degrees. Alicia works as a Pediatric Mental Health Specialist at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Erika works as a Master Specialist in Disability and Leave Services at Amazon. We attribute our success to having an amazing, supportive family and having access to the DHH community.

Our parents were with us through our struggles in education and helped us by being involved in setting academic and social goals at the IEP meetings. This allowed us to get the best education possible because both our parents and academic staff worked together on how to academically challenge us and ensure we would be successful. Our parents being there for us at all angles helped us know they would always be there for us along the way.

Being the only Deaf people in our family, it was important for our parents to support us in finding Deaf peers. Having Deaf friends helped us to embrace who we were because we were around others who were like us. Having Deaf friends also helped us learn how to advocate for ourselves in the community. Deaf friends also showed us that we could do anything we wanted. There were times when it was hard, but we overcame difficulties with family and community support. Being around DHH people who understand what we were experiencing because they too were Deaf was a priceless experience to which all Deaf children should have access. We encourage parents to be as involved in their child’s life as possible and to seek out DHH peers and adults to connect with your child.   ~

Editor’s note: Both Teasley sisters serve on the Family Engagement Committee at Washington Hands & Voices.

H&V Communicator – Fall 2020