"They’re not something to be ashamed of."
An American mum has expressed her shock after the school photographer erased her son's hearing aids from his photos.
Whitney's two children and her husband are deaf. She wants to raise awareness for the deaf community by sharing this experience.
She told Fox News, "When we got the pictures, I saw them and I was like, ‘OK, cute picture, but where’s his hearing aids?’"
"It almost looked like they had used a skin softening and brightening tool or something and that because his hearing aids were an orange color, that it erased them."
The mum said the photography company denied editing the photo, but she stressed that they're very clearly edited or softened.
Rose said she felt like she might have been "overreacting".
However, after talking to others in the deaf community, including her husband, she realised that editing the photos was so harmful.
Speaking about her son, Rose said: "He’s had hearing aids since he was 2 months old and we spend all day every day making sure that he feels proud."
His mum wants him to know "they’re not something to be ashamed of."
The mum said it felt so hurtful for his hearing aids to be edited out.
The company sent her a digital copy, which was a "little better".
Rose still fears the photo will have a negative impact on her son.
"At some point… when he’s getting old enough to where he asks me, ‘Why aren’t my hearing aids in that photo?’ What am I supposed to tell him?"
No child should ever be made to feel like they don't belong or that there's something wrong with them.
