POSITIVE OUTLOOK “It’s far from the end of the world…”

Joseph, the dad of profoundly deaf daughter Primrose, tells us what advice he’d offer Gemma and Chesney as they come to terms with Aled’s condition…

As Gemma and Chesney take in Aled’s diagnosis, it’s okay to ask, “Why us?” You’ll feel blame, panic and worry – and that’s normal. But with time you’ll see that it’s far from the end of the world.

At first, your head is whistling with everything your child isn’t going to be able to do – all the things that other children will take for granted. It’d be a lie to say our own initial reactions were positive. But it does not in any way, shape or form change the love you feel for your child, nothing ever could. Yet it changes the entire world around them, including yours…

Our daughter Primrose was diagnosed with hearing loss when she failed her first hearing test at the hospital the morning after she was born. Confirmation of her profound deafness came four weeks later – and within six weeks, our little princess was prepped and ready with her first set of hearing aids.

Managing our own mental health has been the biggest challenge. We want Primrose to feel positive about who she is, and to own her deafness. We can’t pity ourselves, the situation or Primrose. Getting our heads in the right place was the hardest thing to do, but also the priority. After that, we were able to remember that we had this amazing bundle of joy, and nothing would stop us from enjoying the pure love that comes with having a baby.

The entire deaf community has made a huge difference for our family. Primrose’s cochlear implants have worked wonders, and Magic Hands on Cbeebies [which translates songs and poems into sign language alongside animations] is a godsend. Primrose is two now, and doing fantastically well.

For further advice on childhood hearing issues, visit National Deaf Children’s Society at ndcs.org.uk