DH is deaf in one ear - he was prem and it was attributed to gentamicin. He didn't need an aid because his other ear is fine...but he's been talking lately about looking into one as he really struggles to communicate when there's lots of background noise.
I'm sorry to hear DS's hearing is impaired...but being so young I'm sure he'll adapt really well
My DH has worn hearing aids for past four or so years - people never even notice them. My mum can only hear in one ear (since birth) due to a nerve growing in one place and a hearing aid would do nothing - you have to stand on right side of her and she does lip read a little but copes pretty well. DH's mum hearing is bad, I was always told was a diving accident but I suspect there is more to it due to DH's hearing loss and the fact hers seems really bad (far worse than my mums).
Anyway what I wanted to say really was is interesting about you saying how responsive to sound your DS is, as due to above history both mine have to have additional hearing tests - when DS had his a month or so ago - they said seemed to be some loss but could be due to middle ear infection clearing up - and I was really quite surprised he showed any at all because he seemed to respond to sound so well (we are having follow up for him and DD in a couple of months). I always thought it would be easy to notice any hearing loss especially in young children (DH took us ages to realize because he had become so adept at lip reading and filling in the blanks he wasn't hearing that he didn't know he wasn't hearing them) but have seen it appears is not - so I understand the shock a little.
We don't have hearing loss but I can relate to your fear of having DS treated differently and/or as if he's slow. Our DS is almost two and not yet walking. We've just seen relateives interstate with one repeating numerous times "he's very bright" as I think they were expecting the worst. I fluctuated between feeling "yes, that's our bright little boy" to "grrr, what were you expecting".
I do find myself getting defensive of my son and his accomplishments. At times it's harder to keep that in check than others. I know he's a happy, healthy boy who just has a difficulty in one aspect and dont want people to assume that means more than it does.
You and Jett have come so far together. You are a good team and will get through this together too. Xx
Thanks for support I have been reading through some of the material I have been given so I have plenty of access to support. I might access it to begin with but because I don't want it to define him, I don't think I'll go to specific playgroups/events etc.. I'll just see how I go.
My parents are both Deaf and I grew up with many Deaf and hearing impaired friends.
The Deaf community in Australia is very strong if you are interested in being a part of it. AUSLAN is a great language and even though he's only hearing impaired I'd still encourage you both to learn. It can help immensely in the future as it is a method of communication. I have a few friends who are hearing imparired and were never taught AUSLAN. When they got to mainstream schools, their hearing and speech wasn't good enough to learn or communicate. As such they had no way of communicating with people and then had to learn AUSLAN as teenagers.
Sorry if this is rushed, I'm finishing work now. PM me if you want more info or just to chat.
my youngest was diagnosed as moderate to severely deaf at 5 months old, and had hearing aids until 15 months when they discovered his deafness was conductive and not sensoineural and hence he needed grommets and not aids. When he had his aids I did notice a few people staring at him but like Jett he was blessed with incredible above average cuteness so I put some if it down to that. Most kids asked what they were for and just told them, we decorated them with dinosaur stickers and told people they were like bionic ears. Kids were interested and kind, it was the parents that made a big fuss.
I did start to learn Auslan though, because although he wouldn't need it the research I did suggested that lots of kids with hearing loss like to socialise with other hearing loss kids and so I wanted boytwin to be able to fully emmerse himself in the deaf community or in the hearing community. I also intended for the entire family to learn Auslan so that his friends would feel welcome and understood in our house but as his diagnosis changed so did this intent. I had decided that unless his communication was massively affected that he would go to a regular school though, as being one of 4 I didn't want to separate him from his siblings. That said there are some considerations for school, things like do they have carpets and curtains as this will help him be able to hear better as they absorb background noises.
I am happy to learn Auslan now and I have got a chart of some simple signs that we will use but my question is if the hearing aids help him to hear why does he need to socialise etc in the deaf community? I'm thinking the more I focus on being 'in' with the deaf community the more I am segregating him? Does that make sense? He should be able to hear fine with the aids and communicate so there shouldn't be an issue for him to play with kids that don't have a hearing impairment. Maybe I'm still in denial a bit? I am really surprised how much this diagnosis has affected me.
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