Socialising plays an important role in our lives. By developing good social skills we become talented at building strong and rewarding relationships with other people.

Children begin to learn social skills early in life. They are constantly watching and imitating the actions of their parents, family and friends. When they get older they make social contact by playing with other children.

Children with hearing loss are most often able to adopt social behavior on equal terms with hearing children. Your child's ability to develop social skills will depend upon his or her degree of hearing loss, age and time of diagnosis, treatment, and of course personality.

All children develop differently and all parents worry about how to raise their children. As a parent of a child with a hearing loss, you may find this even more demanding. In most cases, however, parents will be able to expect the same behavior of a child with a hearing loss as they would of a child of the same age without a hearing loss.

Since many children might have the perception that their hearing loss will go away once they grow up, you may consider that they meet and interact with hearing impaired adults.

Many parents experience that it is often hard to keep the balance between protecting and expecting. Some parents of children with hearing loss have a tendency to overprotect their children from the world around them.

However, it is very important to prepare a child with hearing loss for the real world by setting a good example and putting forward fair demands. Children with hearing loss have to become strong, independent and self-reliant adults - even though they have a physical impairment.

You should, of course, consider your own child's physical and mental capabilities before you decide how much to expect of him or her.

At any rate, your child should not be excused from taking part in the daily routines because of the hearing loss. Household chores such as tidying up their room, lending a hand in the kitchen and carrying out dinner plates help build your child's social skills. So does emphasising that your child is a member of a family where everyone has his or her own place and fills out a special role.

Also, it is important that your child accepts the household rules like everyone else in the family. A child with hearing loss should follow these rules on equal terms with his or her brothers and sisters. This will also make it easier for you to keep your own needs and the rest of your family's needs in focus.

For more information on raising a child with hearing loss, please go to the Networking section for recommended reading.