Calling All Parents Dealing with Hearing Loss & Kids And/or Educators!!!

L.,
I am a mom of three young daughters. Two of my daughters are deaf (have a profound hearing loss). I too was devastated at first, but fortunately there are many resources and wonderful supports.

If you aren't already connected to Early Intervention Services, you should call your local school district. They can provide your daughter with a deaf/hard of hearing teacher. They are a GREAT resource, can watch your daughters development and progress, and give you ideas how to best stimulate her. This is a FREE service...and they serve kids starting at birth.

Secondly, I've found that talking with other parents of children with hearing loss has been another WONDERFUL experience. I've learned so much from them. There is a great parent organization called Hands and Voices. The website for the Minnesota Chapter is www.mnhandsandvoices.org They have newsletters, a lending library, and can connect you to other parents of children with hearing loss similar to your daughters.

Here are some other websites for parents of children with hearing loss.
Minnesota Department of Health (MDH)- Newborn Hearing Screening Program. www.health.state.mn.us/newbornscreening. MDH can talk to you about other resources including information about hearing loss and financial resources.

Baby hearing - http://www.babyhearing.org/

It sounds like you will do everything you can for your daughter, and she will thrive. The most important thing to remember is to communicate with her (with sign, verbal, or cue) nonstop. The most exciting thing is that you are aware of your daughters hearing loss at such a young age and with early intervention she has the opportunity to develop her language just has her hearing peers.

Good luck!

I don't have a child with that but I myself am moderately/severely hard of hearing (both ears). I'm not sure how severe your daughter's hearing is but when they say "severe" in terms of hearing, she may still be hearing a lot of things. I have been very academically successful, have been actively working for 10 years, although I do have some problems in hearing sounds/conversations without the hearing aids. I can actually get by without the aids unless I absolutely need to (like for a business meeting). My mom is also severely hard of hearing and she reads lips when communicating with others. She is now 57 years old and will be getting a cochlear implant surgery. I know my mom's/my cases are different but I'd like to assure you that there are a lot of people in similar situations and that there are many technical aids your daughter can get, such as cochlear implants as well as regular hearing aids. Modern technologies, especially, are developing so fast in this area and I'm sure your daughter will be able to live a "almost normal" life just like people without hearing problems. It does get frustrating some days when you are screaming but she can't hear anything....please be patient because it could be the most heart breaking thing for a young person with hearing disabilities to not get emotional support from her families/friends.

Hi L., there are great resources here in MN. My Friend in Mankato had the same thing happen with her child, infact there was just an article written about her and her son and another child in the Mankato Free Press. If you contact the Mankato Free Press, they may be able to email you the article and get you some resources...

A. Anderson
www.ABCare.myarbonne.com

One resource you may want to check out is the Sight and Hearing Assoc. I used to be a screener for preschoolers with this non-profit. While they are not exactly what you are looking for, they may be able to direct you to other services and programs. I hope they can help!

My daughter does not have hearing loss, but we've been signing with her as much as possible from the start.

We discovered the "Baby Signing Time" series when my daughter was around 16 months old, and they've made a "Signing Time" series for older kids by Rachel de Azevedo Coleman. (Her daughter Leah featured in Signing Time is deaf so that's why they started it.) We've even brought it into our daycare and the kids just love it!

It's been a fun way to learn new signs and have the Grandparents/Aunts/Uncles learn some basics too.

Best of luck.

Hi,
My name is D. and about 3 weeks ago we found out my son has permanent hearing loss. It's moderate but at the same time noone knows if it's going to get worse or stay the same. Just like you this is very new to me and it's very tiering. He's now in grade one but has the speech and comprehension of a 3 year old. Which is so hard because I'm not sure how I can help him. So I'm constantly relying on the school system to help me. He's had hearing aids in for about 2 weeks now. He loves them but at times hates them. He's hearing has majorly improved but there's still so much to do and catch up on everything he's missed out on the last 6 years of his life. So I would absolutely love to stay in contact with you, because I have noone to talk to about this who is kind of in the same situation as I am. I'm really looking forward to your response.