Hello, Holland
The path to embracing your child’s hearing loss
Hi mama (or dad!). I’ve been where you are. The darkness, the unknowns, the fear, the uncertainty — everything that accompanies a hearing loss diagnosis. You may feel all of these things at once. You may ebb and flow between them. Or you may not know what you feel at all.
And that is okay.
When you are told your child has significant hearing loss, there is no right reaction. Tears may flow, or they may refuse to come. Anger may boil over, or it may fester. Grief can pave the way, or it can be pushed aside. We all process serious, life-altering news differently.
My own family received that news on October 18, 2019. In some ways, it feels like a lifetime ago. In others, the pain and emotions are still fresh. Time is funny that way.
My goal in sharing my son Cooper’s story — our story, really — is to show you that you are truly never alone. This journey to Holland (hang in there, I’ll get to the relevancy of this) can feel like a lonely one at the beginning. But when you find acceptance, when you open your heart, there is so much beauty to be found along the way.
why we share
We know it's scary to walk this road, especially at the beginning. As new parents, we found comfort in other's sharing their stories of hearing loss and children. It helped us to be able to see kids living a full, normal life despite their loss. Because we found comfort in the parents who were willing to share their stories, we wanted to do that for someone else who is on this same path. It's hard to come to terms with the fact that your child is not necessarily who you thought they would be. And that's OK to admit. You're not alone.