Living with Hearing Loss and Becoming a Bilingual Audiologist Mom

Last year, I was so grateful when pediatric audiologist, Dr. Michelle Hu, reached out to me! I quickly became inspired by her candid sharing and genuine heart, and I think you’ll love getting to know her, too! Today, she shares her experience about living with hearing loss, acquiring languages, and raising multilingual children. She also gives helpful advice and a behind-the-scenes glimpse of her audiology work.

Many parents wonder if children living with hearing loss can learn additional languages. What languages do you speak and how did you acquire them?

When I was diagnosed with hearing loss at age 3 years, my mother was told that I would likely not go beyond a 3^rd grade reading level. She was told to only speak English to me – as anything else would hinder my language progress.

Research has found this to be false!

I grew up in the US, in a small town in Ohio. We were one of only a handful of Asian families around, so I was almost always hearing English. My parents spoke primarily English and Cantonese at home, but I was also exposed to Mandarin and a Shanghai dialect when they had long distance phone calls to relatives.

My brother got to go to Chinese school on the weekends but not me. So he is able to carry on conversational Cantonese and Mandarin. I am receptive to most Cantonese but can only do very simple Cantonese conversation – like restaurants or small talk at home (where is this, do you want this, what are you doing etc).

I took up Spanish in middle school and continued that through college. I used it minimally in graduate school and now almost every day with Hispanic families at work as I am located in San Diego, CA.

Try this: Teach Your Child a Second Language at Home with 5 Key Steps

Can children learn ASL, a visual language, at the same time as spoken languages like English, Chinese, and Spanish?

I encourage language and sound submersion! I feel that our brains don’t work in compartmentalized languages – it just works with communication as a whole. Technically body language and hand gestures are “signs.” ASL is a series of organized gestures!

Dr. Michelle Hu, what languages are your children exposed to?

English is our primary language but my children are exposed to ASL, Spanish and Chinese.

American Sign Language

I knew about sign language, so when I became a mother, I started going to signing groups at the library and picked it up there. It’s been fun to expand our vocabulary as it makes her feel like we have a secret little language. It’s been incredibly helpful with the baby, when my toddler’s language was emerging and unclear and with tantrums.

Spanish

I also studied Spanish through out high school, college, and also use it at work in San Diego, California. Whenever the opportunity presents, I incorporate Spanish words and phrases into our daily life.

Right now, being submersed in a complete Spanish speaking conversation is daunting for me, but being part of a Spanglish conversation is much easier since we are going back and forth explaining and relating.

Chinese

My parents visit often, and my mom is incredible with my daughters. She teaches them songs from her childhood as well as phrases in Chinese whenever the opportunity comes up. My toddler will often ask what something is called in English and then immediately ask what it’s called in Chinese.

Try this: 20 Ways to Get Your Kids to Speak Chinese

Tagalog

My husband’s family is Filipino, so we are exposed minimally when Lola comes to visit.

When did you know you wanted to be a pediatric audiologist?

To become an audiologist in the US, you need an undergraduate degree, then doctorate of audiology – the program is 4 years. The last year is a clinical externship.

I resisted being a part of Deaf culture, anything hearing loss related for the longest time because I saw the word “deaf” or the culture/disability as weak.

It shifted when I had a sudden loss in hearing and my mom mentioned that I might make a good audiologist. I had always wanted to go into healthcare but I didn’t have a field pulling me.

During my externship, I had a pediatric rotation. While I loved and still love working with adults,  I saw that everything and anything you do with adults can apply to pediatrics – but not the other way around.

Also for me, pediatrics presented more potential for giggles, funny scenarios and connection since we are seeing both parents and the patient. 

What does a typical day look like for an audiologist?

For a clinical audiologist, your day may consist of anywhere from 4-12 patients depending on appointment type.

Half of my schedule is seeing toddlers for diagnostic hearing evaluations – usually to rule out hearing loss concerns secondary to a possible speech/language delay. Those are usually quick 45 min appointments.

At the end of the day, I prepare for the next few days. I’m constantly talking with patients/parents or communicating with my co-workers since it takes a team. One manager is in charge of all the hearing aid equipment coming in/going out etc, another for cochlear implant equipment, another for clinical items.

I work at a hospital so it’s very busy, challenging cases come in and we have to put our heads together sometimes to figure things out. But audiology is so rewarding in the sense that we can see concerns, diagnose and rehabilitate.

We can see that giving answers to parents helps them, we can see that fitting devices opens up a whole new world of sound to patients, and we can see that being there for them as a support system and resource is invaluable.

What has been the most challenging part of being a pediatric audiologist?

Probably working with parents. We are seeing two sets of people – the patient and the parents.

Usually, the little patients don’t know any different. They don’t know what they are missing, so they go about life normally since having hearing loss IS their norm.

Often times parents come in, and it’s difficult because their child is going through something that they have no idea or experience with. So explaining things and trying to show parents a little bit into their child’s world can be challenging but amazing at the same time. This is what we are here for.

Thank you, Dr. Michelle Hu!

So grateful for Dr. Michelle Hu for taking the time to share her passion and experience in supporting families living with hearing loss!

Connect with Dr. Michelle Hu and learn more about living with hearing loss

Learn more about Dr. Michelle Hu’s expert advice, courses for parents and healthcare professionals, and pediatric audiology services on her website.

Interviews with multilingual families

We’re not alone in this journey! Here are more parents that inspire me on this multilingual parenting journey:

• Inspired by Her Child, An Author Writes Chinese Books with Pinyin and English
• Cantonese-Australian Mother Shares Chinese Bible Activities for Kids (Printable)
• Teaching Minority Languages to Kids: A New Approach Can Help
• Raising Trilingual Kids: Insights From Korean-Taiwanese-American Parents
• 5 Strategies That Encourage A Child to Love and Speak the Minority Language