Guest guest Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 My name is a and I have a 4 month old son who has been diagnosed with UHL in his right ear. My husband and I have wrestled with the option of getting a hearing aid for him or not. At this point in time, he is doing okay and we know through an assessment that he is meeting all developmental milestones. The audiologist that we see really wants to aid him, but cannot give us proof that this will help him. There does not seem to be much research on this topic out there so I thought I would ask others out there who have experienced the same or similar situations. Any suggestions will help. We are having another ABR and CT scan in November and will re-visit the topic then! Thanks so much, a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 I recommend the aid . . . we used to think our daughter was doing just fine, too--all the milestones, yada yada . . . we just aided her, though . . . and she now wants the TV lower and she hears me talking in a softer voice in another room. It's so subtle, and I think subconsiously you're in denial a little . . . she'll benefit from the aid. Sydney is adjusting, and she kind of whines when I tell her in the morning that we need to put her aids in (she is basically unilateral but we're trying to aid both since her good ear has some very mild loss) . . . but she eventually forgets she even has them on. She's excited that she is hearing better--she has said herself that she is. She is only 5, and we are so glad we made the move finally. > > My name is a and I have a 4 month old son who has been diagnosed > with > UHL in his right ear. My husband and I have wrestled with the option of > getting a hearing aid for him or not. At this point in time, he is doing > okay and we know through an assessment that he is meeting all > developmental > milestones. The audiologist that we see really wants to aid him, but > cannot > give us proof that this will help him. There does not seem to be much > research on this topic out there so I thought I would ask others out there > > who have experienced the same or similar situations. Any suggestions will > help. We are having another ABR and CT scan in November and will re-visit > the topic then! > Thanks so much, > a > > > -- Robin Tomlinson thetomlinsons@... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 Hi a! I just sent you a message on the ADK-Unilateral Loss list two days ago! Welcome to Listen-Up! Everyone here is incredibly helpful and supportive. It's good to " see " you here! Kris Mom to (8, Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (6, hearing) _____ From: Listen-Up [mailto:Listen-Up ] On Behalf Of a Hartlauf Sent: Saturday, July 22, 2006 10:46 AM To: Listen-Up Subject: hello all My name is a and I have a 4 month old son who has been diagnosed with UHL in his right ear. My husband and I have wrestled with the option of getting a hearing aid for him or not. At this point in time, he is doing okay and we know through an assessment that he is meeting all developmental milestones. The audiologist that we see really wants to aid him, but cannot give us proof that this will help him. There does not seem to be much research on this topic out there so I thought I would ask others out there who have experienced the same or similar situations. Any suggestions will help. We are having another ABR and CT scan in November and will re-visit the topic then! Thanks so much, a Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 That's a very interesting post, Robin - our boys have different losses than your daughter (or a - welcome! - your son). They both have bilateral losses - Tom (14) is severe/profound and Sam's (11) is profound. In the past year, they both received cochlear implants. Tom's surgery was in Nov. 2005, activated Dec. 2006; Sam's was May 2006, activated in early June 2006. Of course everyone is so different but Tom's results have been nothing short of stunning - I honestly wouldn't have believed it if you'd told me 8 months ago. He had the surgery because he'd lost a fair amount of hearing in the year before his implant to the point he scored a 4% on word recognition. Three months after the surgery, his score was 96%. We had his first post-implant IEP meeting in May - as " doh " as it sounds, it was amazing to me the difference hearing better is already making for him. He's a kid who, by all counts, was a successful hearing aid user and I really just didn't want to " go there " with the implant. But losing his hearing was the impetus since he's been an oral kid. Even Tom will tell you it's the best thing he's ever done. This isn't to sell you on implants (goodness - not at all!) but just to back-up what Robin said - that we felt too he was doing just fine with the status quo. Reading way above grade level, A's in most subjects (well, there's math ). So it wasn't broken, why fix it. Even given the amount of time we've had kids in the house with hearing loss, I definitely had denial when he lost more of his hearing. It's just amazing to me how much better it is for Tom - and I know for Sam down the line - given this change. The thing that was the real " ah ha " moment for me is how much easier it is for them both to learn and to socialize. All hearing aid companies give you at least a month to try the hearing aid out at no charge. So it can't hurt to fit him with a hearing aid and see how he does for that month (bearing in mind he's a really little guy - neither of my boys were diagnosed at birth). Good luck! Barbara Robin Tomlinson wrote: > I recommend the aid . . . we used to think our daughter was doing just fine, > too--all the milestones, yada yada . . . we just aided her, though . . . and > she now wants the TV lower and she hears me talking in a softer voice in > another room. It's so subtle, and I think subconsiously you're in denial a > little . . . she'll benefit from the aid. Sydney is adjusting, and she kind > of whines when I tell her in the morning that we need to put her aids in > (she is basically unilateral but we're trying to aid both since her good ear > has some very mild loss) . . . but she eventually forgets she even has them > on. She's excited that she is hearing better--she has said herself that she > is. She is only 5, and we are so glad we made the move finally. > > > > > > >> My name is a and I have a 4 month old son who has been diagnosed >> with >> UHL in his right ear. My husband and I have wrestled with the option of >> getting a hearing aid for him or not. At this point in time, he is doing >> okay and we know through an assessment that he is meeting all >> developmental >> milestones. The audiologist that we see really wants to aid him, but >> cannot >> give us proof that this will help him. There does not seem to be much >> research on this topic out there so I thought I would ask others out there >> >> who have experienced the same or similar situations. Any suggestions will >> help. We are having another ABR and CT scan in November and will re-visit >> the topic then! >> Thanks so much, >> a >> >> >> >> > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 Consider this - the first three years is when language is developed. Do you want to miss out on this crucial time period? If your child has a hearing loss with no other conditions, he will probably meet the developmental milestones in these early assessments. The key to keep him meeting those developmental milestones for expressive and receptive language. As he gets older, the criteria for meeting these milestones get harder. With my two hearing impaired children - my goal has always been to keep them on target and I would rather give them the extras now then to have to play catch up later. Hope this helps. Sharlene > > My name is a and I have a 4 month old son who has been diagnosed with > UHL in his right ear. My husband and I have wrestled with the option of > getting a hearing aid for him or not. At this point in time, he is doing > okay and we know through an assessment that he is meeting all developmental > milestones. The audiologist that we see really wants to aid him, but cannot > give us proof that this will help him. There does not seem to be much > research on this topic out there so I thought I would ask others out there > who have experienced the same or similar situations. Any suggestions will > help. We are having another ABR and CT scan in November and will re-visit > the topic then! > Thanks so much, > a > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 22, 2006 Report Share Posted July 22, 2006 Welcom a, My 3 1/2 year old daughter and I both have a unilateral loss in our left ear. Until now, aids have never been an option for either of us because of the severity of the loss. The Transear, which we plan on trying very soon, is quite new and is designed for people with unilateral loss. Does your audi want to use the transear or a conventional aid? I have not read anything regarding using a conventional aid on a moderate UHL. I have read that aiding a severe UHL with a conventional aid, or a CROS aid is oftn not very helpful and can actually be a hindrance in noisy situations. But there is someone else on this list whose 4 or 5 year old son uses a Bi-Cros aide and does well with it. At 4 months, and with normal hearing in one ear, it may not be easy to tell *now* how much an aid will help him. However, as someone else mentioned, it is soo important that babies pick up as much sound as possible, even way before they are speaking themselves. They need that auditory input in order to learn. Also, while many kids with UHL, including myself, learned to speak normally, there are other problems caused by the hearing loss that may have benefitted from aiding if that option was available. At 4 months, my daughter was pretty much on track developmentally. But now that she is 3 1/2, I can see evidence that she is behind her peers socially. When I observe her in preschool or dance class, she often seems 2 or 3 beats behind everyone else. She tends to hover around the teachers. I imagine in order to make sure she knows what is going on in the class and because it is too hard to follow what the other kids are doing (I remember doing that as well). Someone on this list (Jill?) quoted an audi or some other expert that social skills are learned by overhearing and observation, not by direct instruction. That really made me think back on how my hearing loss has affected me throughout my life. Not being able to hear what was going on in the backround really did have the affect of isolating me in some ways. I could have used some good social skills training growing up. Possibly now too. ;-) I'm not saying I was always miserable and the hearing loss ruined my life, but it does make things more difficult. Did you son only have a newborn hearing screening, or other tests as well? I'm not sure how well the newborn screening can tell what the severity of the loss is. You will probably get a more accurate assessment after the ABR. Good luck, I wrote this in a bit of a rush so I hope I made sense. Cheryl > > My name is a and I have a 4 month old son who has been diagnosed with > UHL in his right ear. My husband and I have wrestled with the option of > getting a hearing aid for him or not. At this point in time, he is doing > okay and we know through an assessment that he is meeting all developmental > milestones. The audiologist that we see really wants to aid him, but cannot > give us proof that this will help him. There does not seem to be much > research on this topic out there so I thought I would ask others out there > who have experienced the same or similar situations. Any suggestions will > help. We are having another ABR and CT scan in November and will re-visit > the topic then! > Thanks so much, > a > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 > My name is a and I have a 4 month old son who has been diagnosed > with > UHL in his right ear. My husband and I have wrestled with the option > of > getting a hearing aid for him or not. At this point in time, he is > doing > okay and we know through an assessment that he is meeting all > developmental > milestones. The audiologist that we see really wants to aid him, but > cannot > give us proof that this will help him. There does not seem to be much > research on this topic out there so I thought I would ask others out > there > who have experienced the same or similar situations. Any suggestions > will > help. We are having another ABR and CT scan in November and will > re-visit > the topic then! > Thanks so much, > a > > > > Honestly, I don't know much about UHL, but I do know that there are not many developmental milestones at four months of age that would be measureably affected by hearing loss. (This is not to say that there are not delays, just that they cannot be measured.) I remember our early childhood intervention trying to use this to deny us services when our daughter was that age. I was thinking to myself, " Well, she is not old enough to be making many sounds yet, so how can we tell if her speech will be delayed? " I would not use the meeting developmental milestones at four months to make my decision about whether or not to aid the one ear. in Manassas, VA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Hi a, I am looking into getting a second implant for my daughter because two ears are better than one. As I have been researching, it seems that two ears help us hear in background noise and help us locate sound. Those are both things you want for your child as he gets older and more active which won't be long. Just my two cents. Angel --------------------------------- Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 23, 2006 Report Share Posted July 23, 2006 Hi a, I am looking into getting a second implant for my daughter because two ears are better than one. As I have been researching, it seems that two ears help us hear in background noise and help us locate sound. Those are both things you want for your child as he gets older and more active which won't be long. Just my two cents. Angel --------------------------------- Talk is cheap. Use Yahoo! Messenger to make PC-to-Phone calls. Great rates starting at 1¢/min. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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