A Qualitative Study on the Aural Rehabilitation Experiences of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing People

The purpose of this study was to determine the experiences and main themes of rehabilitation recognized by deaf and hard-of-hearing people and analyzed the meaning of the experiences that appear in individuals, others, and daily life. Focus Group Interview were conducted with 12 participants (6 adolescences, and 6 adults). Paying attention to within-group variation, this study focused analyzing the aural rehabilitation process. 5 themes, 11 sub-themes, and 28 concepts were derived using thematic analysis. As a result of the theme group, five themes were derived: “Started rehabilitation with other’s decision,” “Facing deaf and hard-of-hearing with assistive devices,” “Walking through a dark tunnel called rehabilitation,” “Choose my own way to communicate with the world,” and “Be flexible in accepting and coping with rehabilitation,” and finally, the aural rehabilitation experience recognized by the deaf and hard-of-hearing parties was found to be “To face disability through involuntary rehabilitation process and to have voluntary will to accept and cope with rehabilitation in their own way.” Based on this, implications for rehabilitation methods and alternatives for the deaf and hard-of-hearing people and their families were derived.