A qualitative study of mothers’ experiences adopting deaf or hard-of-hearing children

Abstract

Abstract The current study presents the results of a qualitative investigation into the perspectives of mothers who have adopted children who are deaf or hard of hearing. Nine mothers, recruited via convenience and snowball sampling, participated in semi-structured interviews via videoconference technology. The interviews were transcribed and coded for thematic analysis. Parent perspectives on the following topics were analyzed: motivation, reaction to identification, communication and technology decisions, language, services pre- and post-adoption, others’ reactions, expectations, race and ethnicity, and attachment and adjustment. Based on thematic analysis of the participants’ responses, key themes and implications for professional practice are proposed.