According to Ballard Brief Research, 90% of deaf children are born into a family that speaks a language they cannot naturally acquire, making the exposure of children who are deaf or hard of hearing to their peers a critical part of the learning process not only for the children themselves but also for their families. The National Technical Institute of the Deaf’s “Brainy Day” community event in Rochester highlighted the fun in learning for children and their families.

For children who are deaf and hard of hearing, having a sense of community is important.

What You Need To Know

  • According to Ballard Brief Research, 90% of deaf children are born into a family that speaks a language they cannot naturally acquire

  • According to the National Deaf Children’s Society, meeting other deaf children and having shared experiences can do wonders for a child’s Deaf identity and sense of self-worth

  • Learning more about the deaf community can not only be important for those who are deaf or hard of hearing, but also for their families.

“The reason we relocated to the Rochester Area specifically was so she could attend the Rochester School for the Deaf,” said Lauren Palentino, mother of Olivia Palentino who attends the Rochester School for the Deaf.

According to the National Deaf Children’s Society, meeting other deaf children and having shared experiences can do wonders for a child’s deaf identity and sense of self-worth. It’s something that is true for Lauren’s daughter Olivia.

“She used to get super excited if we saw either one deaf person or someone with a hearing aid and now it happens all the time and it just brings a smile to her face,” Lauren said.

This is why the National Technical Institute of the Deaf’s Brainy Day event brought children and their families together to learn together about neuroscience.

“I feel like every opportunity I receive like with events like this I just want to be involved with it, I just want to learn more. With the research and the studies advancing… I feel like I want to be up to date with that to make sure I can help CJ,” said Abir Natanios, whose 6-year-old son CJ has a cochlear implant. 

“This event is for everyone,” said Athena Willis, postdoctoral associate in Neuroscience at the University of Rochester. “Anyone who can sign or is learning sign language, to learn more information about science.”

It gave families the opportunity to make learning fun.

“He’s making a hat here, the brainy hat,” said Natanios, showing her son’s paper brain hat which was one of the activities featured at the event.

“I think this is an awesome take on learning how kids with hearing loss or who are deaf, how their brain functions differently and how they need different tools in order to get them to succeed in life,” Lauren said.

And it highlights the importance of learning as a family.

“It’s not only important for her, it’s important for our entire family, the entire family unit because it’s really throwing me in the water head first and getting me to learn ASL,” said Lauren.

“I feel like it’s important because if Olivia, my sister, wants to speak to her friends in ASL she might want to speak to us in ASL so that’s why I feel like we have to learn it,” said Olivia’s older brother Aidan Palentino.

The event not only showed children the support they have, but also the community they have.

“I want him to see a whole community that he’s not alone in this boat,” Natanios said. “We can support each other.”