parents of toddlers with mild/mod

[Guest guest]

Our Ian is 15, nowhere near your daughter's age so our experience is not

really what you are asking about. But I'm answering because I missed

understanding the extent of Ian's coping skills when he was little. I only

figured them

out in retrospect and now, boy do they seem easy to recognize.

I often refer to his loss as being deceptive because his coping skills cover

many things. Ian often doesn't really hear us enter rooms, although he seems

to. He sees shadows, or notices that something just blocked the light from

the other room. So he turns to see who it is (and if they're talking). He feels

footsteps and doors opening/closing -- again he'll turn towards them. He

feels car engines, especially diesel trucks or the school bus. He considers

these things to be something everyone does, but they're not really. He can tell

my footsteps from my husband's or daughter's (our shoes on the wood or tile

floor or stairs)

These are the coping skills he developed before we even realized he might

have a hearing loss. They're the things that friends and family insist prove

that Ian " really can hear more than you think. " But I've watched him -- stared

at him actually, and can tell that it's not the sound, but the light or

shadow or vibration that gets his attention most often.

As for aided versus un-aided, I can easily say the difference is night and

day. Very obvious. With his aids out, Ian doesn't catch much unless he's close

to you or aware that you are speaking to him and then he'll turn to face you.

Add in minor noise, like water running or the tv/stereo on (but not loud)

and he won't even realize you've spoken to him.

But those observation coping skills make it seem as though he hears more

than he does. I'm positive about the extent of those skills now because he

responds the same way when he has his MP3 player plugged into his head. There

is

no way he could hear anything and yet he seems to respond as though he does.

Our hearing daughter reacts like she's completely deaf when she has in her

headphones (ear buds) because she doesn't look for visual clues at all. She

startles when you tap her shoulder. Ian never startles and seems to know you're

there, even saying " just a minute " before you've across the room to tap him.

Those coping skills can be utterly amazing and frustratingly deceiving all at

the same time.

Anyway, my point is to watch for what might actually be getting your

daughter's attention. In our case, starting around 3 or 4-years-old, it

probably

wasn't sound. My guess is Ian became sensitive to light and shadows and figured

out what they meant.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

Our Ian is 15, nowhere near your daughter's age so our experience is not

really what you are asking about. But I'm answering because I missed

understanding the extent of Ian's coping skills when he was little. I only

figured them

out in retrospect and now, boy do they seem easy to recognize.

I often refer to his loss as being deceptive because his coping skills cover

many things. Ian often doesn't really hear us enter rooms, although he seems

to. He sees shadows, or notices that something just blocked the light from

the other room. So he turns to see who it is (and if they're talking). He feels

footsteps and doors opening/closing -- again he'll turn towards them. He

feels car engines, especially diesel trucks or the school bus. He considers

these things to be something everyone does, but they're not really. He can tell

my footsteps from my husband's or daughter's (our shoes on the wood or tile

floor or stairs)

These are the coping skills he developed before we even realized he might

have a hearing loss. They're the things that friends and family insist prove

that Ian " really can hear more than you think. " But I've watched him -- stared

at him actually, and can tell that it's not the sound, but the light or

shadow or vibration that gets his attention most often.

As for aided versus un-aided, I can easily say the difference is night and

day. Very obvious. With his aids out, Ian doesn't catch much unless he's close

to you or aware that you are speaking to him and then he'll turn to face you.

Add in minor noise, like water running or the tv/stereo on (but not loud)

and he won't even realize you've spoken to him.

But those observation coping skills make it seem as though he hears more

than he does. I'm positive about the extent of those skills now because he

responds the same way when he has his MP3 player plugged into his head. There

is

no way he could hear anything and yet he seems to respond as though he does.

Our hearing daughter reacts like she's completely deaf when she has in her

headphones (ear buds) because she doesn't look for visual clues at all. She

startles when you tap her shoulder. Ian never startles and seems to know you're

there, even saying " just a minute " before you've across the room to tap him.

Those coping skills can be utterly amazing and frustratingly deceiving all at

the same time.

Anyway, my point is to watch for what might actually be getting your

daughter's attention. In our case, starting around 3 or 4-years-old, it

probably

wasn't sound. My guess is Ian became sensitive to light and shadows and figured

out what they meant.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

Our Ian is 15, nowhere near your daughter's age so our experience is not

really what you are asking about. But I'm answering because I missed

understanding the extent of Ian's coping skills when he was little. I only

figured them

out in retrospect and now, boy do they seem easy to recognize.

I often refer to his loss as being deceptive because his coping skills cover

many things. Ian often doesn't really hear us enter rooms, although he seems

to. He sees shadows, or notices that something just blocked the light from

the other room. So he turns to see who it is (and if they're talking). He feels

footsteps and doors opening/closing -- again he'll turn towards them. He

feels car engines, especially diesel trucks or the school bus. He considers

these things to be something everyone does, but they're not really. He can tell

my footsteps from my husband's or daughter's (our shoes on the wood or tile

floor or stairs)

These are the coping skills he developed before we even realized he might

have a hearing loss. They're the things that friends and family insist prove

that Ian " really can hear more than you think. " But I've watched him -- stared

at him actually, and can tell that it's not the sound, but the light or

shadow or vibration that gets his attention most often.

As for aided versus un-aided, I can easily say the difference is night and

day. Very obvious. With his aids out, Ian doesn't catch much unless he's close

to you or aware that you are speaking to him and then he'll turn to face you.

Add in minor noise, like water running or the tv/stereo on (but not loud)

and he won't even realize you've spoken to him.

But those observation coping skills make it seem as though he hears more

than he does. I'm positive about the extent of those skills now because he

responds the same way when he has his MP3 player plugged into his head. There

is

no way he could hear anything and yet he seems to respond as though he does.

Our hearing daughter reacts like she's completely deaf when she has in her

headphones (ear buds) because she doesn't look for visual clues at all. She

startles when you tap her shoulder. Ian never startles and seems to know you're

there, even saying " just a minute " before you've across the room to tap him.

Those coping skills can be utterly amazing and frustratingly deceiving all at

the same time.

Anyway, my point is to watch for what might actually be getting your

daughter's attention. In our case, starting around 3 or 4-years-old, it

probably

wasn't sound. My guess is Ian became sensitive to light and shadows and figured

out what they meant.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

There seems to be quite a few of us on this listserv

so I wanted to get some feedback. I basically wanted

to see how noticeable your child's hearing loss is to

you as parents. And by this I mean when they are

unaided and when you are spending time with them.

This may not apply to all of you because your kids may

be aided more than my daughter is.

I am just now starting to notice some things that my

daughter isn't hearing...and she's 22 months. Her's

is a high frequency loss so perhaps that is why.

Thanks...

Alison

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Only in the last year have I really noticed a difference in Aidan when his

aides are off. I think that has to do with his constant " what you say " that

he replies to everything with. Before that it was not so apparent. He has

the cookie bite (as our hearing itinerant calls it) hearing loss. His

mid-range is where the most loss is.right where speech would be.low and high

frequencies are better, but it kind of steps down. So, that is where we

are..

God Bless,

<http://www.pscpartners.org/> http://www.pscpartners.org/

[Guest guest]

Only in the last year have I really noticed a difference in Aidan when his

aides are off. I think that has to do with his constant " what you say " that

he replies to everything with. Before that it was not so apparent. He has

the cookie bite (as our hearing itinerant calls it) hearing loss. His

mid-range is where the most loss is.right where speech would be.low and high

frequencies are better, but it kind of steps down. So, that is where we

are..

God Bless,

<http://www.pscpartners.org/> http://www.pscpartners.org/

[Guest guest]

My son Sam is nearly 5 now. He has a profound loss in one ear, but

the other ear has a mild loss loss (normal in the low frequencies, but

slopes to severe in the high frequencies).

Sam was adopted from another country, and his first language is not

english. His hearing loss came at about 1 year old, and his primary

language changed to english at about 18 months. A whole bunch on his

plate at any early age, so I'm not sure how " typical " any of his

language development has been!

In any event, now at age 5, we still have significant articulation

issues and immature speech patterns. I'd say he sounds more like a 3

year old talking, but is closer to a 5 year old in vocabulary.

Sam wasn't aided until he was 2 years old, and we weren't sure what

kind of effect the loss was having on him at that point. But I

remember two things from that first day of wearing his hearing aid -

his total amazement at listening to someone whistle in a restroom

right after leaving the audiologist and his wonder at the sound of the

clop-clop-clop of a woman in high heels running to her car from the

hospital.

Now, with and without his aids, I notice the little things -

discerning words that sound alike is a biggie as is his tendency to

learn things concretely in a single way. Idiomatic expressions are

tough for him.

Two examples in both these areas: we had a discussion about police

(he's obsessed and for awhile feared being arrested!) Anyway, my

oldest told him that police don't arrest kids like him, just bad guys

like robbers. Sam's eyes got HUGE. The next day he refused to get on

the bus with his bus driver because the bus driver was going to be

arrested. The bus driver's name - RoberT. Robber-. Sam has

trouble with stuff like this all the time (but is also really good at

bluffing!).

As far as idioms, just yesterday, we were playing light sabers and I

said " Okay, Sam...you're toast! " He cracked up, fell on the ground

laughing and said, " Mom, I no piece of hot bread! " ;-) By age 5,

most kids " get " these expressions much more than Sammy does.

So, it's the little things but in a classroom environment they can

really add up to misunderstanding lots of instruction!

[Guest guest]

My son Sam is nearly 5 now. He has a profound loss in one ear, but

the other ear has a mild loss loss (normal in the low frequencies, but

slopes to severe in the high frequencies).

Sam was adopted from another country, and his first language is not

english. His hearing loss came at about 1 year old, and his primary

language changed to english at about 18 months. A whole bunch on his

plate at any early age, so I'm not sure how " typical " any of his

language development has been!

In any event, now at age 5, we still have significant articulation

issues and immature speech patterns. I'd say he sounds more like a 3

year old talking, but is closer to a 5 year old in vocabulary.

Sam wasn't aided until he was 2 years old, and we weren't sure what

kind of effect the loss was having on him at that point. But I

remember two things from that first day of wearing his hearing aid -

his total amazement at listening to someone whistle in a restroom

right after leaving the audiologist and his wonder at the sound of the

clop-clop-clop of a woman in high heels running to her car from the

hospital.

Now, with and without his aids, I notice the little things -

discerning words that sound alike is a biggie as is his tendency to

learn things concretely in a single way. Idiomatic expressions are

tough for him.

Two examples in both these areas: we had a discussion about police

(he's obsessed and for awhile feared being arrested!) Anyway, my

oldest told him that police don't arrest kids like him, just bad guys

like robbers. Sam's eyes got HUGE. The next day he refused to get on

the bus with his bus driver because the bus driver was going to be

arrested. The bus driver's name - RoberT. Robber-. Sam has

trouble with stuff like this all the time (but is also really good at

bluffing!).

As far as idioms, just yesterday, we were playing light sabers and I

said " Okay, Sam...you're toast! " He cracked up, fell on the ground

laughing and said, " Mom, I no piece of hot bread! " ;-) By age 5,

most kids " get " these expressions much more than Sammy does.

So, it's the little things but in a classroom environment they can

really add up to misunderstanding lots of instruction!

[Guest guest]

My son Sam is nearly 5 now. He has a profound loss in one ear, but

the other ear has a mild loss loss (normal in the low frequencies, but

slopes to severe in the high frequencies).

Sam was adopted from another country, and his first language is not

english. His hearing loss came at about 1 year old, and his primary

language changed to english at about 18 months. A whole bunch on his

plate at any early age, so I'm not sure how " typical " any of his

language development has been!

In any event, now at age 5, we still have significant articulation

issues and immature speech patterns. I'd say he sounds more like a 3

year old talking, but is closer to a 5 year old in vocabulary.

Sam wasn't aided until he was 2 years old, and we weren't sure what

kind of effect the loss was having on him at that point. But I

remember two things from that first day of wearing his hearing aid -

his total amazement at listening to someone whistle in a restroom

right after leaving the audiologist and his wonder at the sound of the

clop-clop-clop of a woman in high heels running to her car from the

hospital.

Now, with and without his aids, I notice the little things -

discerning words that sound alike is a biggie as is his tendency to

learn things concretely in a single way. Idiomatic expressions are

tough for him.

Two examples in both these areas: we had a discussion about police

(he's obsessed and for awhile feared being arrested!) Anyway, my

oldest told him that police don't arrest kids like him, just bad guys

like robbers. Sam's eyes got HUGE. The next day he refused to get on

the bus with his bus driver because the bus driver was going to be

arrested. The bus driver's name - RoberT. Robber-. Sam has

trouble with stuff like this all the time (but is also really good at

bluffing!).

As far as idioms, just yesterday, we were playing light sabers and I

said " Okay, Sam...you're toast! " He cracked up, fell on the ground

laughing and said, " Mom, I no piece of hot bread! " ;-) By age 5,

most kids " get " these expressions much more than Sammy does.

So, it's the little things but in a classroom environment they can

really add up to misunderstanding lots of instruction!

[Guest guest]

> I basically wanted to see how noticeable your child's hearing loss

> is to you as parents. And by this I mean when they are

> unaided and when you are spending time with them.

> I am just now starting to notice some things that my

> daughter isn't hearing...and she's 22 months. Her's

> is a high frequency loss so perhaps that is why.

>

> Thanks...

>

> Alison

Alison, it's really rare that I notice any difference aided vs.

unaided. A lot of times we'll read books after a bath (before bed)

and I don't put his aids back in because his hair's wet, and he'll

fill in the blanks when I stop, just as usual. Maybe it's because he

knows the story already?

I do notice that he watches me closer without his aids in though.

Maybe he's starting to read lips????

I guess I'll have a lot of questions to ask him when he gets older!!

- mom of

Miri - 7 - hearing

Abigail - 4 1/2 - hearing

- 2 - mild/moderate SNHL

[Guest guest]

> I basically wanted to see how noticeable your child's hearing loss

> is to you as parents. And by this I mean when they are

> unaided and when you are spending time with them.

> I am just now starting to notice some things that my

> daughter isn't hearing...and she's 22 months. Her's

> is a high frequency loss so perhaps that is why.

>

> Thanks...

>

> Alison

Alison, it's really rare that I notice any difference aided vs.

unaided. A lot of times we'll read books after a bath (before bed)

and I don't put his aids back in because his hair's wet, and he'll

fill in the blanks when I stop, just as usual. Maybe it's because he

knows the story already?

I do notice that he watches me closer without his aids in though.

Maybe he's starting to read lips????

I guess I'll have a lot of questions to ask him when he gets older!!

- mom of

Miri - 7 - hearing

Abigail - 4 1/2 - hearing

- 2 - mild/moderate SNHL

[Guest guest]

Alison DelGaudio wrote: <<I basically wanted

to see how noticeable your child's hearing loss is to

you as parents. >>

Hi, Alison.

My son, Emmett, is 4 now. He was diagnosed with unilateral profound loss in

his right ear at 2.5 (not aided). A progressive loss was diagnosed in his left

ear six months later and he's been aided on that ear since.

We never knew Emmett had the unilateral loss. He was young, had great language

(an older sib helps) and never appeared to have problems. Looking back, I now

know that I missed a lot of the signs. He could never locate me if I was in a

different room and speaking to him. It wasn't too obvious at the time, but a few

times I wondered about it. He had lots of issues when he was younger

(life-threatening food allergies, recurrent ear infections, severe asthma) so I

thought I was being overly sensitive to everything.

Now that he's lost hearing in his left ear and he's older the loss is much

more noticeable. He's able to tell us to repeat ourselves (and he does that

quite well) and he'll reposition himself in a room to hear better. When he's not

aided, he says " What did you say? " a lot. I think that has a lot to do with the

fact that he probably doesn't work as hard without the aid on. I think he " takes

a break " when the aid is off. The loss in that ear is 25-30 db so what he misses

are the nuiances. He'll have trouble with my husband's voice as well. Even

though my husband sits on Emmett's good side at dinner, Emmett frequently asks

him to repeat himself.

There's a lot he misses that we're only noticing now. A lot of times, I panic

and think he's lost more hearing but then I think it's just that he's better at

accommodating himself now and he'd rather not miss stuff most of the time. (He

gets a hearing test every 3-4 months so we'll know when there's a drop.) When he

was younger, if he missed something at dinner, he didn't really care. Now he's a

big part of the conversation so he wants to keep up. I also see him working hard

to keep up with friends more than before but that's because he's at an age where

they play together, not side-by-side.

Wow. I've gone on and on here. To cut to the chase, yes we notice. I'll add

this: I think it's extremely important to teach self-advocacy to young children,

hearing loss or not. It's been beneficial for Emmett in many arenas. And it can

be taught very early. Emmett could, from the time he could form a sentence, tell

people that food made him sick. He needed to be able to do that because it was a

matter of life or death for him. But that has helped him with his hearing loss

too. We taught him those skills from the time he was a year. We'd play all sorts

of games and role-played. In the beginning, he ignored us. But eventually he got

it!

Hope I didn't bore you too much!

Good luck,

johanna

---------------------------------

What are the most popular cars? Find out at Yahoo! Autos

[Guest guest]

Alison DelGaudio wrote: <<I basically wanted

to see how noticeable your child's hearing loss is to

you as parents. >>

Hi, Alison.

My son, Emmett, is 4 now. He was diagnosed with unilateral profound loss in

his right ear at 2.5 (not aided). A progressive loss was diagnosed in his left

ear six months later and he's been aided on that ear since.

We never knew Emmett had the unilateral loss. He was young, had great language

(an older sib helps) and never appeared to have problems. Looking back, I now

know that I missed a lot of the signs. He could never locate me if I was in a

different room and speaking to him. It wasn't too obvious at the time, but a few

times I wondered about it. He had lots of issues when he was younger

(life-threatening food allergies, recurrent ear infections, severe asthma) so I

thought I was being overly sensitive to everything.

Now that he's lost hearing in his left ear and he's older the loss is much

more noticeable. He's able to tell us to repeat ourselves (and he does that

quite well) and he'll reposition himself in a room to hear better. When he's not

aided, he says " What did you say? " a lot. I think that has a lot to do with the

fact that he probably doesn't work as hard without the aid on. I think he " takes

a break " when the aid is off. The loss in that ear is 25-30 db so what he misses

are the nuiances. He'll have trouble with my husband's voice as well. Even

though my husband sits on Emmett's good side at dinner, Emmett frequently asks

him to repeat himself.

There's a lot he misses that we're only noticing now. A lot of times, I panic

and think he's lost more hearing but then I think it's just that he's better at

accommodating himself now and he'd rather not miss stuff most of the time. (He

gets a hearing test every 3-4 months so we'll know when there's a drop.) When he

was younger, if he missed something at dinner, he didn't really care. Now he's a

big part of the conversation so he wants to keep up. I also see him working hard

to keep up with friends more than before but that's because he's at an age where

they play together, not side-by-side.

Wow. I've gone on and on here. To cut to the chase, yes we notice. I'll add

this: I think it's extremely important to teach self-advocacy to young children,

hearing loss or not. It's been beneficial for Emmett in many arenas. And it can

be taught very early. Emmett could, from the time he could form a sentence, tell

people that food made him sick. He needed to be able to do that because it was a

matter of life or death for him. But that has helped him with his hearing loss

too. We taught him those skills from the time he was a year. We'd play all sorts

of games and role-played. In the beginning, he ignored us. But eventually he got

it!

Hope I didn't bore you too much!

Good luck,

johanna

---------------------------------

What are the most popular cars? Find out at Yahoo! Autos

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to chime in here also, I could not agree with Jill's post

more. My daughter was diagnosed at birth and wasn't aided until 7

months due to conflicting ABR's. However there was times when she was

not aided as a baby that I second guessed what she heard before she was

aided. She was aided at 7 months old and then we battled with keeping

her aids on her. Again second guessing ourselves that she didn't want

to wear them because she may not have needed them or that they were too

loud etc. After going through several audies and many different

opinions on why she didn't want to wear her aids, at around the age of 3

we found an audie that felt she wasn't aided properly and that her aids

needed to be bumped up 20dbs. We as parents were nervous about this

recommendation and pondered as to what to do. We finally agreed on

allowing the audie to reprogram her aids, and since that day my daughter

has never pulled her aids out again. It made such a huge difference in

her speech and hearing in a very short period of time not to mention and

she wanted her aids in all the time. Once she was properly aided we

noticed many things that she was able to hear that she never noticed

before. She became more aware of things also, these kids cope at such

an early age it's hard for us as parents to see the little things that

they do and are doing even as babies. The lip reading skills that they

acquire on there own is just amazing. My daughter is now 7 years old

and has a moderate to severe loss and is fully mainstreamed and is the

only hearing impaired child in the school.

Take Care,

Colleen

Mom to le 7 HOH, Asthma, Allergies, Low Immune System Etc.

Mom to 11, Hearing, Allergies

Re: parents of toddlers with mild/mod

These are the coping skills he developed before we even realized he

might

have a hearing loss. They're the things that friends and family insist

prove

that Ian " really can hear more than you think. " But I've watched him

-- stared

at him actually, and can tell that it's not the sound, but the light or

shadow or vibration that gets his attention most often.

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to chime in here also, I could not agree with Jill's post

more. My daughter was diagnosed at birth and wasn't aided until 7

months due to conflicting ABR's. However there was times when she was

not aided as a baby that I second guessed what she heard before she was

aided. She was aided at 7 months old and then we battled with keeping

her aids on her. Again second guessing ourselves that she didn't want

to wear them because she may not have needed them or that they were too

loud etc. After going through several audies and many different

opinions on why she didn't want to wear her aids, at around the age of 3

we found an audie that felt she wasn't aided properly and that her aids

needed to be bumped up 20dbs. We as parents were nervous about this

recommendation and pondered as to what to do. We finally agreed on

allowing the audie to reprogram her aids, and since that day my daughter

has never pulled her aids out again. It made such a huge difference in

her speech and hearing in a very short period of time not to mention and

she wanted her aids in all the time. Once she was properly aided we

noticed many things that she was able to hear that she never noticed

before. She became more aware of things also, these kids cope at such

an early age it's hard for us as parents to see the little things that

they do and are doing even as babies. The lip reading skills that they

acquire on there own is just amazing. My daughter is now 7 years old

and has a moderate to severe loss and is fully mainstreamed and is the

only hearing impaired child in the school.

Take Care,

Colleen

Mom to le 7 HOH, Asthma, Allergies, Low Immune System Etc.

Mom to 11, Hearing, Allergies

Re: parents of toddlers with mild/mod

These are the coping skills he developed before we even realized he

might

have a hearing loss. They're the things that friends and family insist

prove

that Ian " really can hear more than you think. " But I've watched him

-- stared

at him actually, and can tell that it's not the sound, but the light or

shadow or vibration that gets his attention most often.

[Guest guest]

I just wanted to chime in here also, I could not agree with Jill's post

more. My daughter was diagnosed at birth and wasn't aided until 7

months due to conflicting ABR's. However there was times when she was

not aided as a baby that I second guessed what she heard before she was

aided. She was aided at 7 months old and then we battled with keeping

her aids on her. Again second guessing ourselves that she didn't want

to wear them because she may not have needed them or that they were too

loud etc. After going through several audies and many different

opinions on why she didn't want to wear her aids, at around the age of 3

we found an audie that felt she wasn't aided properly and that her aids

needed to be bumped up 20dbs. We as parents were nervous about this

recommendation and pondered as to what to do. We finally agreed on

allowing the audie to reprogram her aids, and since that day my daughter

has never pulled her aids out again. It made such a huge difference in

her speech and hearing in a very short period of time not to mention and

she wanted her aids in all the time. Once she was properly aided we

noticed many things that she was able to hear that she never noticed

before. She became more aware of things also, these kids cope at such

an early age it's hard for us as parents to see the little things that

they do and are doing even as babies. The lip reading skills that they

acquire on there own is just amazing. My daughter is now 7 years old

and has a moderate to severe loss and is fully mainstreamed and is the

only hearing impaired child in the school.

Take Care,

Colleen

Mom to le 7 HOH, Asthma, Allergies, Low Immune System Etc.

Mom to 11, Hearing, Allergies

Re: parents of toddlers with mild/mod

These are the coping skills he developed before we even realized he

might

have a hearing loss. They're the things that friends and family insist

prove

that Ian " really can hear more than you think. " But I've watched him

-- stared

at him actually, and can tell that it's not the sound, but the light or

shadow or vibration that gets his attention most often.