Seattle’s Child is proud to partner with the state Department of Children, Youth and Families Strengthening Families Washington to honor outstanding caregivers doing important work on behalf of children. Throughout February, we’ll introduce you to Unsung Heroes from around the state. Enjoy their stories.Â
Andrea and Chris Diangco, Bothell
More than 90% of deaf and hard-of-hearing children are raised by hearing parents. It’s well known that these children benefit from experiencing sign language (ASL) from birth. This gives them access to language, and support cognitive, linguistic and social emotional development. This can be a challenge for such parents as they need to learn a second language.
However, Camille’s parents, Andrea and Chris, didn’t hesitate to embrace this change in their lives. They have accessed every resource available to them in their journey of raising a child with hearing differences, including enrolling in programs that have helped them learn ASL. With all this support, Camille is thriving! She is achieving milestones in all areas. Not only does she have a large vocabulary in ASL, but also spoken English, and is even picking up Tagalog, French and Spanish.
Each time a provider visits their home, they experience the pleasure of how actively Andrea and Chris participate in services, plus how they seek to increase their knowledge of Camille’s development and to support it, and how they use ASL as much as they can.
The pride and joy they feel in Camille is always clear, and the mutual love among the three of them is evident in their interactions. Andrea and Chris have given Camille all the tools to succeed, and she will be able to carry this gift with her throughout her life.
Andrea and Chris are heroes who exemplify the kind of caregivers we all aspire to be.
— Dr. Katherine Douglas, SLPD, CCC-SLP
More Unsung Heroes 2026:
Marysville dad doesn’t hesitate to ask for help
NOTE: Seattle’s Child is running these stories unedited, as written by the people who nominated them, in keeping with the DCYF Unsung Hero process.
