Dinner Table Syndrome

The social and emotional isolation experienced by deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals in hearing family settings where spoken language is the primary mode of communication. Named for the common experience of sitting at a family dinner table surrounded by conversation one cannot follow, this phenomenon affects over 90% of DHH children who are born to hearing families. Dinner Table Syndrome can lead to feelings of exclusion, reduced family bonding, and limited access to incidental learning that hearing children absorb naturally from overheard conversations.