Just Deaf

"My parents could ask our deaf babysitter all kinds of questions about deaf people."

Martine and Roos Wattel

"Some deaf children think it's something to grow out of."

"My third child was hearing, which was new to me."

"Deafness used to not be quite as well known, my mother would explain what it was to the other children."

"My parents were fine with my deafness because of our Islamic faith."

"His hearing loss quickly became less important."

"We can tell friends and family something about his development, but his ears won't change."

"People looked at me funny when I said I didn't think it was sad to be deaf at all."

"We've never decided not to do something because they're deaf. The audiologist told us: you can grow up to be old and happy with it."

"Meeting deaf adults gave our parents a positive attitude towards deaf children."

"Will he be able to enjoy music?"

"A CI can be useful if you get it when you're still young, but it's no use to me."

"If you can't hear, you're deaf. I think 'very severely hearing impaired' is very weird."

"Five days after his birth he was already getting hearing tests done."

"As a child I didn't know putting something down on a table made a sound."

"Society makes us handicapped."

"I have felt like we were missing help from within the deaf community. You mostly see hearing professionals."

"I really wonder how he's going to experience it later on."

"It wasn't until later that we realized: not being able to hear, that's actually kind of complicated."

"The youngest is now two years old, I don't know if they're gonna use a hearing aid."