Special Needs
Hearing loss? Need some guidance...am I in denial
I haven't been on here in so long...but I need some guidance. We have been dealing with the diagnosis of my 11 month old---Moderate hearing loss in both ears for some time....Here is the problem, I truly do not think that he has a loss, he hears everything (except for maybe whispers). I am trying to decide if it this is such a detriment to his life?
If he were born before 2007, we would never know that he has a loss, simply because he is ahead of the curve regarding his milestones (sounds, waves, points etc)...so what to do...Is technology too good? I would love to talk to anyone who has a hard of hearing baby.
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Hearing loss? Need some guidance...am I in denial
Oh. And one more bit of info. Just to throw it out there, but I've quickly learned that there are two camps of hearing teachers. One that believes in Aural Rehabilitation and one that believes in signing. In my experience, each camp will convince you that the other is wrong.
Its up to you and your family to decide what's best for your son. Hearing stuff can get hugely political and cultural. Please know that its okay for you to disagree or agree with any personal stance while you're considering what's best for him.
My oldest had moderate/severe hearing loss in his left ear & borderline in his right - (the reason I say had is because it was caused by fluid since he was born with a cleft palate & was repairable with tubes or nasal spray). We noticed a big delay in his speech especially when the tubes fell out last fall. Once we started the nasal spray we noticed a huge difference in how he responded to his speech pathologist. He use to say "what" to us all last summer, we thought he was being a wise guy. He really did not hear us.
I would work with your son's ENT to find the best solution for him! It will only help him ; )
You have some amazing advice here. I want to second that CIs are usually not indicated for moderate loss. And while he may hear most of what you say, he may be missing certain sounds, particularly in high frequencies. He's still responding to the sound, but can't understand the meaning because of the missing information. It really is important for his language abilities that he get help and get it NOW. A second opinion is always helpful, of course.
Moderate losses are tricky for the exact reason you're saying. The child seems like they're hearing! Think of a child with a vision problem. They're not blind - they can see the book. They can see that there are words on the page. But actually reading those words accurately and consistently is a different story.
I third the fact that with the loss you describe your LO would not qualify for CI. As a result of the procedure any hearing that is present is "killed" therefore there has to be a severe loss and no gain from aids.
It may be true that your LO is hearing his world, but with that loss what he hears is not as loud and clear as it should be. When speech starts to evolve in his world he may very likely have problems. At his age I would say that you should aid him. Down the road when his speech has developed, he has no further loss and if he chooses to not wear them and funtions equally well in school well then you can make that decision as a family. I would just worry about setting him behind in speech right away.
My daughter is profound in one ear and moderate in the other. There is no doubt she hears without her aids, but she is a lot quicker to respond and interact with them on.
I find people are very apologetic for her hearing loss. "Oh I am sorry that she cannot hear". They often have glasses and I say "really aids are no different than glasses" they just help to enjoy your world better.
You think that he really does not have a loss. Has he had an ABR? Without fluid in the ears that test is pretty conclusive.
Hugs to you!!
hi there....
first of all let me say that i think denial is a natural thing. when my daughter was Dx with a hearing loss, i was in complete denial because no one in our immediate family had symptoms. shortly after she failed her hospital hearing test, we were referred to a deaf school here that has a parent-infant program. they offer weekly support meeting along with techniques to help our kiddos, they have a parent night once a month that brings all of the parents of the p-i program together for parenting classes and in exchange they provide hearing aids for our children at a reduced cost.
your ENT should be able to provide an ABR test which does test your LO's hearing or loss. i, too, didn't believe that emily had a hearing loss because she heard everything. but after going to these classes i learned that hard of hearing kids can hear really well within a 6 foot bubble....its when you start stepping back that their hearing starts to get a little worse or adding other noises. emily was Dx with mild to severe hearing loss (depending on frequency) ONLY in her left ear and thus she is only using a hearing aid at the moment. my understanding is even if had total hearing loss in her left ear, she wouldn't be a candidate for CI because her right ear is fine.
i can tell that now that emily is older she does have a hearing problem. she absolutely HATES loud places because it gives her too much noise to process. she gets distracted easily when she is eating thus she needs a quiet place to eat. she is doing well with the hearing aid but that may change. we may be experimenting with another device that helps clarify vowels that she can not understand since a hearing aid simply makes noises louder not clearer.
sorry...i am all over the place. have your LO retested....and seek help from your community resources. easter seals can provide help for your LO as well. good luck!!
Hi, I'm an audiologist, so just wanted to give my opinion too.
Agree with the other posters that a cochlear implant is not going to be a consideration. He will benefit from hearing aids alone. Also, the aural vs signing will not be an issue for a child with a moderate hearing loss. No one will tell you a child with a moderate loss is better off with sign language.
A moderate hearing loss can be very deceiving, because like you say, he seems to hear everything but whispers. For a child developing speech, those soft sounds are SO important. Children learn speech not just by people speaking directly too them, but by hearing speech around them in their environment. Also, children with mild to moderate hearing loss are very good about using visual cues when you do not realize it and are actually responding to things they are seeing in addition to hearing.
I know it is hard to accept, but you really need to think about getting hearing aids for your son asap.