Hi everyone,
My name is Melissa, I live in South Florida, and this is my first child (Owen). We have learned that he has hearing loss in both ears, and are in the process of confirming the nature and degree of the loss. Needless to say, this has been something of a shock. Owen has a developmental eval for EI in 2 weeks, and also more audiological testing. We are also going to have genetic tests done to see if the cause is genetic. Also, Owen has "lop ears," which basically means the cartilage isn't hard enough to keep his ears up - if they don't harden w/n the next 6 mos., he will need plastic surgery later on.
Does anyone here have a child who is deaf or hard of hearing? Or have any experience with lop ears?
Re: Introduction - Son (6 weeks) has hearing loss
Hi
Im so sorry you and he will have to deal with all of this, and so soon...... But I am so glad you have already been in contact with EI.
The only thing I know about is ear abnormalities. My son was born w/ bilateral ear tags - 2 on each side. Just make sure all the doctors refer to his issue as a 'birth defect' and not something 'elective' and your insurance woes will be less of a hassle.
I hope you get some more concrete answers soon.
My DD has bilateral hearing loss. It started out unilateral but has progressed. I am glad that you are already set up for EI - we love our dead and hard of hearing teacher.
My daughters loss is due to congenital CMV.
My DH has severe hearing loss in both ears. They think he was born this way, and back then they didn't do too many tests to figre out why. I just want to say that he learned to overcome any hurdles he faced even when he was a small child in school. He has had a very normal life and even considers his hearing loss a blessing sometimes (can tune out a crying baby, doesn't get awakened during storms, etc.).
They can do so many more things now than they could do 43 years ago when he was born. If you ever want to chat about it feel free to PM me. I hope this helped you.
Hi,
Thanks for your reply. Does your DD have hearing aids? What degree of loss does she have? Have you decided on a communication modality (oral, sign language, total communication, etc?) I'm sorry to barrage you with questions but am trying to learn as much as possible how other parents have handled this.