title: When expectation meets experience: parents' recollections of and experiences with a child diagnosed with hearing loss soon after birth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine parents' recollections of and their experiences with bringing up a child diagnosed with hearing loss at a very young age.
  
  
  METHODS
  Based on the analysis of informal parent discussion groups, four open-ended questions were formulated to solicit information about parents' expectations following diagnosis, as well as experiences and challenges when raising a child with a hearing loss.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty parents of children, aged between three to five years, who were diagnosed with hearing loss before the age of three years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Parents' responses revealed strong support for early intervention, high expectations for their child's development, and desire for information tailored to individual needs. Parents also reported anxiety relating to their perceptions of the significance of consistent device usage on their child's development. Further concerns arose from their observations of the difficulties experienced by their child in real-world environments despite consistent device usage, and their perception of their child's language delay despite early intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings point to a need to support parents to form realistic expectations based on current knowledge. Implications for clinicians to provide improved management of children with hearing loss are discussed.
authors.affiliation: The Hearing Cooperative Research Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia National Acoustic Laboratories , Australian Hearing, Chatswood, New South Wales , Australia.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gilliver
authors.forename: Teresa Y C
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Ching
authors.forename: Jessica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sjahalam-King
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D004644:Emotions; D034381:Hearing Loss / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*