LO was diagnosed with a mild hearing loss and will be getting hearing aids. I was just wondering if anyone else on HB had a LO with hearing loss.
-
Not us that we know of, but my SIL said my niece actually had so many ear infections that she had a loss of 50% hearing in her right ear. But I think they did tubes and were able to correct it so probably not the same situation... How old is your LO? Will the hearing aids need to be replaced as s/he grows? Glad they were able to recognize and diagnose it at an early age!
-
@travellingbee: his isn't middle ear, which is generally what the infections impact. He's getting hearing aids that'll get replaced as he grows. He's 3.5 months now but will probably be fitted for them around 4.5 months. It's a mild loss so he may not need hearing aids once he's an adult, depending on what kind of work environment he's in. His main struggles will be non face-to-face communication (he won't hear us from another room) and situations with background noise. So if he chooses a career like accounting, where he'd be in a quiet office or having face to face conversations, he'd be fine. But for language development, and because daycare/preschool/elementary are all places with a lot of background noise, he needs them for now.
-
That is really great that they figured it out now so it doesn't impact language development.
-
@travellingbee: I'm trying to see the bright side but some days it's hard
-
Ellie has experienced some mild hearing loss which was caused by fluid in the middle ear. She had ear tubes placed about a year ago, and we had to do a follow up tympanogram, etc. which showed that her hearing was back to normal. I can understand your worry and concern. It sounds like you and his doctor(s) are being proactive about it and making sure that he has what he needs to ensure that his hearing loss won't have to negatively impact him as he grows, which is wonderful. I wish I could speak more to your particular situation, but you certainly have my support and thoughts. I know that as a parent dealing with any setback for a child is really tough. I'm looking into joining a parent's group for parents dealing with some of the issues that we are facing with our oldest; I'm wondering if there is anything like that around for parents with children who have a hearing loss. I know that it will feel great to me to be able to talk to someone who knows some of what I'm going through.
-
@Mrs. Twine: thanks! I've considered it but the group my LO's audiologist suggested was more geared towards families with deaf kids. LO's loss is pretty mild. He won't go to a school for deaf students or learn sign language so I'm not sure if it would be a good fit.
-
@septemberlove: Never hurts to learn sign and lip reading... even if he does have partial hearing.
-
So sorry you and your LO are going thru this. My Dad was born completely deaf in his left ear. When he was a child they had him learn to read lips just in case he lost his hearing completely. He never had any issues with it growing up, hope you LO wont either.
-
@septemberlove: It might be more helpful for you to look into groups with parents of Hard of Hearing children. Not to say your child identifies with that term necessarily, but you will probably find you fit in better with those groups than Hearing/Deaf parents with Deaf children.
-
I'm sorry you have to go through this.
My neice went to the daycare in our city's deaf centre. Only about a quarter of the children had any hearing impairments but it was amazing the amount of sign language she learned so early on. Do you have a reason you don't want him to learn sign?
-
I had a piano student who had hearing loss in one ear. She naturally compensated by learning to read lips. It was really neat. When she was 12 or so, she got a hearing aid and loved it. She's really smart, does well in school. Just wanted to share what I consider to be a success story.
-
@Mrs. Jacks: His audiologist doesn't recommend sign language. His loss is mild, he can hear face to face conversations but would struggle with a lot of background noise. He's able to realize we're talking in another room, but would struggle to understand what we're saying. It just doesn't make sense to use sign language with his type of loss, per his audiologist, so we are following her recommendations. Even with profound hearing loss, sign language isn't always recommended when the child has a mom and dad who hear. Cochlear implants are pursued in those types of scenarios, but that'd be overkill in our situation.
@Grace: I have a slight loss and read lips very well. I never wore hearing aids, I just make sure I can see the person's lips moving while they're talking. I hope he's able to reach his full potential with the hearing aids, it's always awesome to hear about others who have been successful despite having hearing loss! That's awesome that she played piano too!
@Reese: I'll try googling hard of hearing groups and see if anything is available in our area!
-
@septemberlove: the deaf community would probably disagree with the audiologists recommendations. I'm teaching my little ones sign because it aids babies in communication. It's been so important to my younger daughter who has been slower at picking up spoken language. At least she can tell me what she wants through sign. And I can't imagine that lip reading would be bad in background noise situations. I know I wish I was better at it for cocktail parties.
Not that this applies to your situation, but some people even find cochlear implants quite controversial because they wipe out any native hearing and because the deaf community doesn't see deafness as a disability per se, but rather a separate culture.
Anyway, to each her own. I simply couldn't see how additional tools would hurts a child's ability to adapt to his circumstance... But I understand that each family is different :). I certainly think that early hearing aids are a wonderful idea.
-
@Mrs. Jacks: He is far from deaf. In our situation, our communication challenges would arise when he's not near us (if he didn't have hearing aids). So if he were in a separate room or too far away, he wouldn't be able to hear us. But if he's in a separate room or far from us, sign language would be useless. Especially considering no one in our families knows it or would learn it, I think for our LO, it's not a path that would prove to be beneficial. Without hearing aids, he could still hear a face to face conversation just fine or even a conversation across a room, as long as the background noise was minimal. He's far from deaf, he just needs a little extra volume. Hearing loss is so varied, with so many components that differ from person to person, it's impossible to make blanket statements about what's best.
-
@septemberlove: I fully realize he's not deaf. He may however be slower with language acquisition and use and I was thinking of sign (like baby sign) as a bridging tool. That's all
-
@Mrs. Jacks: we're exploring speech therapy as a way to help mitigate language delays, baby sign language may be something to discuss with his speech therapist. The more tools, the better! So far, it sounds like for his particular case, providing ample opportunity for exposure to language (talking to him, singing, reading, etc.) is going to be our best strategy for mitigating language delays. We were also advised to minimize pacifier use as a way of encouraging babbling and imitation, which I thought was very interesting!
-
@Mrs. Jacks: As someone who works in this realm you have summed up my comments quite nicely.
-
@Reese: I wasn't asking to be attacked for following the recommendations of my child's healthcare team, I was simply asking if anyone had a child with hearing loss. It's a difficult world to navigate, one I hope you'll never be a part of. It's confusing and frustrating. As any parent, I want the best for my child and having someone question those choices is unfair. In our situation, sign language is not a good option. If his speech therapist believes it could be beneficial, it's something I may reconsider, but thus far, the recommendation has been to pursue hearing aids and speech therapy.
-
I'm sorry you are going through this. Your son is fortunate that you discovered this now so his language development isn't affected.
My cousin has mild hearing loss and aside from his hearing aid, you'd never be able to tell. He too was lucky that they found it early. My aunt works with disabled kids professionally and used many of her skills from that realm to help my cousin, including sign language. I know you are opposed to it, but it was helpful for my cousin, not as a method for him to communicate now (he's six and has great verbal skills now) but in the early stages of his speech it gave him a head start. I am planning on using baby sign language with my LO. I read something a few weeks ago that said that kids that learn baby sign have language skills that are far advanced of their non-signing peers - something like a three year old speaking like a four year old. Their motor skills develop before their verbal skills so its a way to communicate when they can't yet form the words.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_sign_language
Please don't think Mrs.Jacks was attacking you or your LO. We all want each others babies to excel and thrive. I think she was merely offering support and trying to direct you to things that she has seen as successful in her years of practice.
-
hi!! just wanted to share my own experience with hearing loss!
i was born with severe hearing loss in one ear only. i've never had to wear hearing aids and have never learned sign (except for a fun signing course i took once in university!). I also don't read lips (although that would be a neat skill to have!).
i know everyone is different, but my hearing loss has never profoundly affected my daily life in the 30 years i've been alive! unless I tell them, people never know i can't hear from one ear, and i don't remember ever really thinking about it ever growing up, or even now.
the only adjustments I have to make are that i tend to walk/sit on one side of a person when we are side by side to hear them better, such as in a busy restaurant. i think i vaguely remember when i was in elementary school my mom requested that i sit on one side of the classroom and closer to the front, so i could make sure to hear everything clearly. that's it!
also, when i listen to music with ear buds, sometimes i don't bother to put them both in.
i know your LO's situation is a bit different, but i hope he has a 'non-issue' experience with it throughout his life as well
ETA:
just remembered one more thing -- i'm not great at figuring out the direction a sound is coming from if i don't already know/can see it. hahah.... it really doesn't affect your daily life, though. i can't think of one situation so far where it was an actual downfall -- except when i was little and my dad used to tease me by calling out my name while hidden somewhere in the house! it was a fun game -
Hi friend!! I bet your LO will be just fine. My cousin grew up with some kind if hearing loss. He wore hearing aides in both his ears as a kid. But we played with him totally normally. At some point when he got older, he stopped wearing them. His speech is a tad "off" but its a non-issue for the most part. He has no need for sign language. I also know a lady who, I think, is pretty close to fully deaf. She reads lips. She also has some kind of speech. It's difficult to communicate with her, but I do actually have full conversations with her when I see her somehow. She works as the head accountant at a very nice beach hotel. She has raised two of the nicest, most awesome, boys I know. She, also, never learned sign language. So basically, I think your son will be just fine!!! Keep positive, mama!!
-
@tysonja: I think one of the hardest things about all this is that I have a slight hearing loss and have never been adversely affected, and many people in my family have mild-moderate losses that have never impacted their lives (they never had hearing aids) so trying to understand the best course of action, the extent of his loss, etc. is hard when I know I grew up just fine with no intervention. I started talking at 9 months and speak normally. The only real difference is that I have to look at people when they talk. I'm just leaning on his audiologist and healthcare team to help me help him.
@MrsMcD: thanks
it's fairly likely he won't need them as an adult. I hope kids will treat him totally normal--and adults too. I hope I'm able to find a good parent group to be a part of, for extra support.
-
@septemberlove: Attacked? All I meant was that I work in the field with those with hearing loss and @Mrs.Jacks summed up most of the helpful points I was trying to provide you with. Sorry for any confusion.
-
@septemberlove: kids are always a little cruel in grade school. Unfortunately most kids get made fun of for one thing or another.. I was made fun of for having a unibrow. But strong kids hopefully don't let it phase them too much and become even stronger because of it.
-
@MrsMcD: true. I was picked on for weight and my brother was picked on for his glasses.
-
I didn't know your LO has hearing loss. So sorry you have to go through this, but it sounds like you are handling it all very well. I have no experience with this, but I just wanted to lend some support.
-
@Reese: No idea here. I read your posts and OP's response and am not sure what's going on there. Definitely no attacking on your part...Sorry that wires got crossed somehow!
@septemberlove: I did not know your LO had hearing loss and I'm sorry that you're going through this.
Reply
Subscribe to our newsletter
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
27 comments