You can have a goal (even a primary goal) of maximizing speech and hearing outcomes without abandoning other goals. Our clinic provides referrals for counseling services, and our non-profit does advocacy for IEPs (and NOT just for implanted patients, and NOT just for patients of the clinic). No, we don't do home visits, but honestly, outside of an IFSP, who does? It's just not feasible, especially not in California. Anyone at our clinic who downplayed the life-changing event of implantation wouldn't last here very long.
No one "rushes" families into decisions at our clinic, when the families are ready to schedule surgery, they schedule it. Our clinic has in-person support group meetings where they can meet other families at various stages of the implant evaluation (or post-implant) process, and we work very closely with both state early intervention programs and local schools who have hearing impaired students.
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Originally Posted by jillio
That is what I am referring to: maximize speech and hearing outcomes. That is a very limited view. And let me ask, does your clinic also arrange for follow up counseling services for both parent and child and siblings following implantation? Do they have someone who does home visists? Do they offer advocacy for educaitonal services, or does advocacy end once the insurance company has been convinced to pay for the surgery? The problems that are being encountered are notthose that can be addressed through surgery or medicine. Butthey are still a very real part of the CI experience.
And what about pre-surgical services? Or are we in such a rush to complete the implantation in a timely manner, that we forget that CI surgery is life changing, not just for the recipient, for for the family, as well.
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