Gauging Interest in Digital Personalized Simulations of Hearing Loss For Parents of DHH Children

It can be difficult for parents to understand how their children perceive the world, especially when they have different sensory capabilities (e.g., hearing loss). Personalized simulations of other sensory impairments have been shown to improve understanding, so digital personalized simulations of hearing loss might improve understanding for hearing parents of d/Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) children, but only if there is demand for it. We surveyed six hearing parents of DHH children to assess factors that might influence this demand, as well as the base demand itself. We found that there is indeed demand, even in the presence of two potentially confounding factors (parent hope for regained hearing and high parent empathy).