best thing that happened to me. I really started to live my own life after that,” she explained. Gain More Than Just A Language Whether they are deaf or have the ability to hear, instilling in young children that their circumstances do not define them can be the extra step in their journey to success. For parents, with hearing children it may be helpful to teach them that loss of hearing is not a setback but instead a way of living life differently yet obtaining the same amount of satisfaction as everyone else. “It isn’t about hearing loss; it’s about Deaf Gain. By embracing Deaf Gain, parents can help their children see the beauty and strength in diversity and understand that every individual brings valuable perspectives to our world,” Kia stated. for deaf children learning as early as possible may be most imperative. Rosalind (Roz) Kia, Project Coordinator at CSC, shared that “From birth to age three is a critical period for language acquisition because, in the first few years of life, the brain is highly adaptable and capable of forming the neural connections necessary for learning language.” For deaf children, it is this critical period that may also secure their academic and social well-being. However, Tracey Kashiwa has shown that it is never too late to learn or achieve your goals. With an A.S. degree in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education and extensive experience working with individuals with disabilities, she shared that she did not learn ASL until almost 20. “I learned at 19. I was “old”, but it was the 86 HAWAII PARENT September/October 2024 A parent learns to sign alongside their child with the help of a professional. "Learning ASL at 19 was the best thing that happened to me. It opened up a whole new world and allowed me to truly start living my own life."
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