My son was born with hearing loss and fitted for hearing aids before he turned 1. I’ve scheduled audiology appointments and found the right support to help him thrive. But one aspect I’ve never been sure how to handle is helping my son navigate questions other kids have had about his hearing aids.
Representation in media is one of the fastest and easiest ways to bridge that gap in understanding. Kids with disabilities see themselves represented, and kids without disabilities learn something new.
Which is why I was excited to learn that new episodes of Peppa Pig reveal that Peppa’s younger brother, George, is moderately deaf.
“Normalizing different ways of being means that young kids learn, from their earliest years, that people and their experiences can vary, and that’s OK,” says Tina Donvito, whose 12-year-old son was diagnosed with bilateral hearing loss when he was 2 years old. “There isn’t one ‘right’ way to exist in this world.”
The storyline begins with the episode “Hearing Test,” in which Peppa’s family learns during a routine medical visit that George has moderate hearing loss in one ear and is fitted with a hearing aid. To ensure the accuracy of the storyline, Hasbro worked with the National Deaf Children’s Society and Camilla Arnold, a deaf executive producer and script consultant.
My son, who is now almost a teenager, was happy to see the issue represented on a popular show. “There are books, like El Deafo, that teach about hearing loss, but you have to choose to read them,” he says. “This way, kids who don’t have disabilities can learn about kids like me.”
In the show, George takes an audiology test, which is relatable for many families. “My son recognized the task of putting the blocks into a bucket when the sound was heard,” says Emily Richardson, whose 4-year-old son has a cochlear implant. “When George didn’t put the remaining two blocks into the bucket, [my son] said, ‘Oh no, George can’t hear that.’”
After the audiology test, the audiologist told Peppa and George’s parents that the kids did a good job. “We liked that the audiologist praised both of them for completing the test,” says George Olekson, whose 4-year-old son has a cochlear implant. “The ‘good job’ wasn’t conditional on passing the test, but on the fact that they did a good job completing it, regardless of the results.”
Personally, I liked how the show explains that hearing aids don’t restore hearing. For example, Peppa was excited for George to hear one of her favorite sounds, but he had trouble. Peppa and George’s mom explain that it takes time to adjust to listening with hearing aids, and that there are some things George may always struggle to hear.
My son hears well with his hearing devices, but when I put on the Peppa Pig episode to watch, he added the closed captioning. He uses a variety of support to fully understand situations, including lip reading and context clues.
Jenni Turner, whose 3-year-old daughter is bilaterally aided for moderate hearing loss, agrees that the show is educational about the realities of hearing devices. “It helped to show some of the difficulties with hearing aids,” she says. “They don't give perfect hearing, localization can be hard, and it takes a long time for children to catch up.”
Donvito also appreciated how the show used sound (or lack thereof) from George’s point of view. “Not only did it depict how sounds might sound low or muffled to someone with hearing loss, but also how it can be isolating from those around you,” she says.
“We’ve had stories from school where the kids are sad that my daughter didn’t want to play with them,” says Jessica Mieden, whose 4- and 6-year-old daughters both wear hearing aids. “But my daughter didn’t hear them. When the teacher caught onto it, she made sure the child got my daughter’s attention first. Learning how to get their attention first, getting closer, then speaking—all matter.”
Caitlyn Ezra, whose 3-year-old son wears hearing aids in both ears, likes that the show explains that a child like hers may feel overwhelmed by loud sounds. For example, in the Peppa Pig Tales short on YouTube, a classmate pulls out a chair loudly, and George yanks out his hearing aid.
“This happens to my son in some noisy environments,” Ezra says. “The episode gives some understanding of how communication can be influenced, leading to speech delay, inappropriate responses, frustration, etc.”
One inaccurate portrayal that many of the parents agreed on is the amount of time it takes to get hearing aids and molds fitted. “This is unfortunately a much longer process, dependent on a number of factors,” Ezra says.
There was also a surprising lack of sign language in the show. Sign language has been shown to have many benefits, including speech outcomes. And there are many deaf children who thrive in sign language environments, with or without assistive devices. While the show doesn’t incorporate sign language into the episodes, they do have a YouTube channel, “PEPPA PIG Sign Language for Kids,” featuring episodes interpreted in British Sign Language (BSL) and American SignLanguage (ASL).
They also sell a toy of George (with his hearing aid) that sings and tells jokes, which Ezra says is another great teaching resource and a way for kids to have a relatable companion. My son is a little big for the toy, but I want one. Seeing family members represented in a mainstream setting is special for me, too.
