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Rachel70

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Hi there. I'm a mum of 2. I've been worried about my 6yr olds hearing for about a year now. She failed her hearing test at school and they referred her to the local child clinic. She has since failed 3 tests. Initially they thought it might be just a build up of wax in the ears. She had a 50% loss in one ear and 20% in the other. We had her ears syringed. Today we went back to the clinic where it showed significant loss in her right ear and some loss in her left ear. In the left ear the doctor said it was 'glue ear' and that they could deal with that. But in the other ear he said he could see her ear was blocked but not sure why. So I was told that she would need to face the person she is speaking to. if there was a lot of noise she will need someone to get her attention before giving instructions. I was told that she would need to sit at the front of the class. WHich she has been doing anyway. The doc said he would write to the school. I work at the school as a teaching assistant.

I was really hoping that once she had her ears syringed everything would be fine. So I suppose I'm in a bit of shock really and probably didn't ask enough questions. He said he'd see her again in 4 months and if things hadn't improved he would refer her to the ENT dept at the local hospital.

I have so many questions. I'm going to take some time to look through some posts and see if I find some answers.

In the meantime what should I expect from the school? Why do we have to wait for another hearing test? Does it normally take some time to get anywhere or do I need to be more forceful?

Sorry for the long post. But I would appreciate any advice or places where I can find information.

Many thanks
Rachel
 
Hi Rachel,
My Suggest Is: Go To School For The Deaf That Near Your Location, Please Hear Their Story, And Hear Doctor's Story..then Your Decision What To Do...
My Opinion: I Prefer Send My Child To School For Deaf, Its Best. So She Can Have Deaf Children To Communicate With Her, Play With Her, Involved Sports With Deaf Children And Activites Like Drama, Homecoming, Prom, Trip With Deaf Children.
I Know For Sure That School For Deaf Are More Happy To Help You And Let You Go Tour Around The Deaf Kids, See The Teachers Use Sign Languages.
While At Mainstream, Mostly Teachers Dont Use Sign Languages, They Get Interpreter. Plus All Kids Are Hearing, Left Her Out! Mostly Hearing Kids' Recess Dont Involved Her All Times. She Will Be Alone..
You Can Go To Both School And See Yourself, Look At Her To See Which She Really Comfortable With Kids.
I Hope You Call Deaf School And Tour Around.
I Suggest You To Learn Sign Languages Too To Communicate With Her..
Definitly, The Deaf School Will Give You Full Informations.
I Will Pray For You And Your Decision.
Let Us Know How It Went?
 
Thank you so much for your reply. At the moment I'm happy with her school and as I don't really know much about her hearing problems at the moment I wouldn't consider moving her school, yet.

I'm just wondering if she should be getting extra help at school?
 
Hi Rachel,

Welcome to Alldeaf and enjoy your stay here :) ...
 
Ok.. A few questions.. How is your daughter doing in school? does she have trouble with hearing the teacher? If that is so, I'd see about speech therapy, lipreading and using sign. I don't recommend full involvement in the deaf school system. because if she has some hearing, she might better benefit from mainstream schools with total communications.

And not all mainstream is bad for a deaf child.. I grew up using total communications in a mainstreamed situation and I'm profoundly deaf. Just make sure the school has a deaf program where deaf children can interact with each other, even if they have some hearing problems like your daughter. And many deaf schools have declining enrollment due to more and more deaf children placed in a mainstream program. I'm aware you don't consider your daughter fully deaf yet, because she has some hearing, so I'm just giving you options.. and I'm sure Shel90 will be along with More options and all that LOL. She works with deaf children.
 
I have a theory about the syringe, but I cannot proof it. I always think that it affects the ears because of the pressure or disrupts the ear drum or other area inside the ear. Our ears have a tiny hole that go to the tube for the air which is normal. There is a new device that looks like a warm water gun to clean out the wax which is considered to be safe. I think I trust it, and someday, I would buy one. It costs around 300 bucks. I am not a dealer, and it is on Welch Allyn: Welch Allyn® Ear Wash System Offer

I need to tell you about an ENT doctor. My mother is hearing, and she had a big wax in her left ear. I took her to the doctor to remove it. The doctor used an old fashion method is to use a tiny "spoon" instrument. Her ear inner skin was bled for two days. I told him about Welch Allyn Ear Wash System, and he never heard of it. He told me that he is NOT interested to look it up on the website because of the money or preferred his own way. You cannot trust any ENT unless he/she has a good reputation, but it is not that simple...

It is a difficult decision for you to find the right school for your child. A mainstream school seems a good way to catch up the education level along with hearing students. Sometimes, it would be hard for your deaf child to catch up or maybe not. Most deaf schools have very low reading and writing levels. My deaf friend mainstreamed when he was a kid. His speech was very good he had a speech therapy very often. His skills were excellent in school. He told me that he never thought that he was deaf. He transferred to a deaf private school when he was 16, and he enjoyed meeting with deaf students. He passed away he had a lung problem when he was in college.
 
Rachel...depend What School Provide? Ask That School To See If They Provide? Some School Dont Provide Interpreter Or Sign Languages. Check Her School To See If They Provide?
I Understand How You Feel That You Dont Want To Move Her To Other School.
But If She Really Completed Deaf, I Prefer For Her To Go School For The Deaf. I Grew Up At School For Deaf Age 4 Til 19.
Alot Great Memories, Class Reunion, Know Those Kids After Alumni, Had Own Yearbook Of Kids She Knew.
While At Hearing School, My Friend Who Graduated From Hearing School Had Never Attend Class Reunion, No Alumni Days, Not Know Any Students In Yearbook.
I Dont Pushy You Anything, But Its My Experience.
Smile..
 
Firstly thank you so much for your replies.

Lucy says she does find it hard to hear the teacher at times. She will often turn her head so that the left ear (her better ear) is pointing towards the person speaking.

She can read and write but is behind in these. She is in yr 2 and not expected to reach yr 2 targets this year. She struggles with most aspects of school and I always put this down to the fact that she just wasn't interested. Now I'm begining to wonder about that.
 
Hello! Hope those posts will help you ! My sister sort of upset that her son ( my nephew) may lost some hearing too :):):)
 
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