How one mother cares for her Deaf child
Shericka Mighty shares her story of a life of struggle
WHEN Shericka Mighty gave birth 12 years ago to a bouncing baby girl her last expectation was that when her baby cried she would not respond to noise-induced efforts to calm her.
When her baby would not turn her head to noise or respond to sounds, Mighty was prompted to do a series a tests which eventually confirmed her then worst fears – her last child, Reneque Thomas, was deaf.
“At first I was confused as to what the first step should be, where I should seek help and how she would survive in this world being deaf,” Mighty said as she shared her reaction when she found out Reneque was born with severe sensorineural hearing loss.
Feelings of hopelessness would follow as she was ignorant of the deaf community. Like Mighty, many parents, upon finding out that their child is deaf or hard of hearing (D/HH) become overwhelmed with fear because up to that point they would have had no knowledge of how to interact with the deaf.
Mighty admitted that the most challenging part in raising a deaf child is learning the signs to ensure effective communication. The lack of online Jamaican Sign Language (JSL) resources and face-to-face JSL classes in Jamaica added to her struggle to learn the language. This is the reality for many parents and many families who have been unable to meaningfully provide academic support for their D/HH relative at home.
But according to her eldest daughter Renae Brown, who was only nine years old at the time, the new uncharted territory would serve as the catapult for change in the family.
“She didn’t just give up and say no. She went and learnt sign language, and we also learnt and got our level one certification. From an early age mommy tried her best to ensure Reneque was enrolled in the best school. Myself and my other sister had to learn sign language as well,” Brown, now a student of sign language interpretation and language education English at The University of the West Indies, Mona, told the Jamaica Observer.
She added: “This was new for us, and having support and our mom standing firm and saying though it’s something new we can learn to work around it and with it in our space, is a good feeling. I feel good to know this was something we learnt about and can deal with. It is in no way difficult if you accept it. A lot of persons do not accept it and as such it is difficult for them or they see it as a burden but, to be honest, it is a blessing. From you accept it, move forward to learn sign language, love your child and communicate with your child, then everything else is possible. Communication is in no way difficult. There are so many resources available through JAD [Jamaica Association for the Deaf]. Just make the time and accept that your child is deaf.”
Further, between 2017 and 2020, the Partnership for Literacy Enhancement for the Deaf (PLED) Project, a collaboration between Jamaica Association for the Deaf and USAID, designed and implemented several interventions to address this shortfall. Over 200 parents and relatives of D/ HH children, including Mighty, benefited from JSL classes and enrichment weekends, parenting workshops and also shared in reading training sessions.
The highlight for Mighty was learning the ‘15 Shared Reading Principles’. These are