9 year old Aided main stream child so many questions

Totally agree DeafDyke. Will prefers to be unaided. He normally goes all summer no aids. His magic pill is reading lips. Without reading lips he would be the dumb nod 60 percent of his unaided life :)

I found a private deaf person that teaches reading lips. Am going to see if I can work it into his schedule!
 
If Will is able to "read lips" that by definition he has no "problems". A factual statement.

aside: I have taken Speechreading at Canadian Hearing Society/Toronto and is very difficult unless one is able to hear distinguishing words-eg P BM are identical on lips. The context should differentiate between "pat/mat/bat". This is simple to the sounds down one's throat! That is why it is so difficult to Speechread.

Thus the context is the key to somewhat being able to Speechread. One must Pay attnetion-all the time.
To the best of my knowledge Speechreading is not taught in lower school here in Ontario.. One has to be able to read in order to understand. Plausible in lower school?
Also, there were NO DEAF persons in my CHS classes.

further aside: during all my Cochlear Implant sessions-"Mappng" at Sunnybrook/Toronto the audi stopped me from Speechreading by holding a mirror to her lips . She knew about my Speechreading lessons at CHS.

I guess in the end one must have detailed accurate info exactly what is the "situation" hearing wise from the ENT doctor/audi who has "examined the person". From that- then what is required can be accurately considered.

As one can tell from reading comments above- our personal experiences are very different.
 
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WillsMom08 said:
Totally agree DeafDyke. Will prefers to be unaided. He normally goes all summer no aids. His magic pill is reading lips. Without reading lips he would be the dumb nod 60 percent of his unaided life :)

I found a private deaf person that teaches reading lips. Am going to see if I can work it into his schedule!
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While your child may or may not have an APD, letting him go months without wearing his hearing aids is not going to help him in learning to discriminate the speech and language surrounding him.
 
deafdyke said:
Um,he is not more hearing then deaf. To say that HOH kids are more hearing then deaf is AUDIST......Yes,it's not as hard for them to hear (compared to say a kid with a deaf loss) but there's a reason the term is HARD of hearing.....Hearing isn't a strengh...it's a weakness in HOH kids......Almost all Deaf schools have good HOH services (ie auditory training,speech therapy and so on) They just have the advantage that they teach in ASL/Sign (not all Deaf Schools use ASL),which in turn means that CAPTIALIZES on deaf and HOH kid's nautrual visual processing abilty......why not capitlize on the nautral visual processing strengh that even HOH kids have? Even 30% of HOH kids still struggle academicly (and that's just the ones we know about....the total population of HOH kids who struggle is most likely much more then that)
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When you make baseless comments such as the above, it belittles the true meaning of Audism.
 
CSign said:
While your child may or may not have an APD, letting him go months without wearing his hearing aids is not going to help him in learning to discriminate the speech and language surrounding him.
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you are totally correct. However, compassion always prevails in my head. I wish it were as easy as what is best is what will be. Unfortunately we all have different parenting strengths and weaknesses.

There are probably 2-3 mornings a month Will cries all the way to get dropped off to school because I make him wear his aids that day. It is heartbreaking for me as a mom.
 
Hi, I'm a cookie-biter in my hearing loss (mid-frequency mild loss in my left, moderate in my right slipping into low frequency hearing loss). I grew up with normal hearing and I have little knowledge of ASL and the Deaf Community. I joined here to educate myself on my own hearing loss and also to understand the Deaf Community because I wish I had understood more about hearing loss as a child. It would have saved me depression about a year ago I went through.

Ambrosia is correct that normally, yes, with mild hearing loss that most of the time we can pick up sounds just as easy as any person with normal hearing, except that sometimes we just cannot understand the full context of what is being said. I so often with my own hearing loss in both ears I have a hard time understanding speech of certain inviduals because they talk so quietly in loud places. I wear my hearing aids at work because it is loud but oftI was given a hearing aid for my mild loss in my right ear and very rarely do I wear it, even at work. The feedback is terrible and drives me nuts - plus being having a cookie bite hearing loss I can hear low and high frequencies well...

I turn the television up and I do have problems when people knock on my apartment door - mostly because where the door is located that I believe someone with perfect hearing would have a hard time hearing it as well. I have a light flasher to let me know when people are at the door simply because I may think I've heard something and want to make sure there is someone at the door. Plus it allows me not to worry about wearing those stupid hearing aids all day.

Even with my loss as I've been told by so many I should function just fine. I get tired of trying to always rely on my guessing games to understand people cause they seem to mumble a lot (to me at least). I still need the visual cues when I'm tired of trying hear straight...or correctly. I can hear words unaided but they make no sense a lot the time (mainly for my right ear) because I'm stuck guessing at what they said. I could possibly have APD myself - never been tested for it and don't really care to.

But your son's mild loss can be totally different compared to the next person who has mild loss, especially if he has APD.

I see no problem with your son learning ASL - it would allow your son to rest when he is tired of trying to fit in because he is not "deaf" enough or "hearing" enough. Wearing hearing aids gets exhausting...trust me.

I think your son sounds like he could have an APD but I'm not a specialist. Not having your son wear his hearing aids at random will not do him no good when he may need them. Hearing aids don't always help with mild losses and your son can wear them, depending on his type of mild hearing loss, when he wants too or needs them. I've gotten to where I take mine off and on depending on the situations. In class I wear them. At work I wear only the one on the right because wearing one on my left ear would make things too loud and hurt my ear...sometimes I don't wear them at all.

Your son will have to learn what fits him in these situations. I grew up hearing fine (I think so anyways :lol:) but I don't always wear my hearing aids everywhere like the audiologist wants me too. I learned what I can understand and what I can't with my loss when people speak.

Personally I never knew someone with a mild hearing loss could go to a deaf school - I always thought there had be higher level of hearing loss you needed to qualify and it depended on the schools looked at. I learned something today reading these forums on that.

I don't see why people are doubting deaf education though if that is what will benefit your son, then go for it. I just think you need to look at the academics and see which one will help your son the most in that field but which will also help accommodate your son the best. Maybe it is mainstream or maybe it is the deaf education route...

Also talk with your son and maybe explain which one will benefit him better in the future education wise? Allow to go to ASL summer immersion camps? I don't see why someone with a mild loss would only have to rely on speech only and go that route when they can benefit from ASL as well.

I wish I had the time to learn ASL...it would be wonderful to have to quit relying on hearing aids to understand full sentences all the time with what my professors are saying.
 
WillsMom08 said:
you are totally correct. However, compassion always prevails in my head. I wish it were as easy as what is best is what will be. Unfortunately we all have different parenting strengths and weaknesses.

There are probably 2-3 mornings a month Will cries all the way to get dropped off to school because I make him wear his aids that day. It is heartbreaking for me as a mom.
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You need to find out why he doesn't like wearing them. That would solve a lot of problems. He needs to wear them everyday or not at all.

As kiklove says, she doesn't like to wear her hearing aid in her mild ear.

Really does sound like you need to go back to the audiologist and focus on setting the hearing aids correctly.

A lot of people with mild losses don't wear hearing aids as hearing aids have limited bandwidth and hearing aids pick up a huge amount of noise compared to what even someone with a mild loss hears through their ears or even what hearing people hear.
 
I dont think anyone is going to believe what has happened to my child.

First of all Under Michigan special ed. requirements all children with any hearing loss that interferes with his education qualifies for an IEP. I was denied an IEP because he was not deaf enough. I HAVE THAT IN WRITTING??

Second, I have written confirmation that our school put in the fm boot and system in place 2 years ago. I have it in writing it was done. For some reason, I called to talk to the facility that give us that equipment and he mentions Will never got his boots because my principal never followed through with the paper work.

Third, I have documents that our 504 is to include consultations with HI organizations and services. Not only was none of it done, but the principal never followed through. He never added it to the 504 in our file but told me in writing it was done.

INSANE I have it all documented in writing....
 
KikLove said:
Hi, I'm a cookie-biter in my hearing loss (mid-frequency mild loss in my left, moderate in my right slipping into low frequency hearing loss). I grew up with normal hearing and I have little knowledge of ASL and the Deaf Community. I joined here to educate myself on my own hearing loss and also to understand the Deaf Community because I wish I had understood more about hearing loss as a child. It would have saved me depression about a year ago I went through.

Ambrosia is correct that normally, yes, with mild hearing loss that most of the time we can pick up sounds just as easy as any person with normal hearing, except that sometimes we just cannot understand the full context of what is being said. I so often with my own hearing loss in both ears I have a hard time understanding speech of certain inviduals because they talk so quietly in loud places. I wear my hearing aids at work because it is loud but oftI was given a hearing aid for my mild loss in my right ear and very rarely do I wear it, even at work. The feedback is terrible and drives me nuts - plus being having a cookie bite hearing loss I can hear low and high frequencies well...

I turn the television up and I do have problems when people knock on my apartment door - mostly because where the door is located that I believe someone with perfect hearing would have a hard time hearing it as well. I have a light flasher to let me know when people are at the door simply because I may think I've heard something and want to make sure there is someone at the door. Plus it allows me not to worry about wearing those stupid hearing aids all day.

Even with my loss as I've been told by so many I should function just fine. I get tired of trying to always rely on my guessing games to understand people cause they seem to mumble a lot (to me at least). I still need the visual cues when I'm tired of trying hear straight...or correctly. I can hear words unaided but they make no sense a lot the time (mainly for my right ear) because I'm stuck guessing at what they said. I could possibly have APD myself - never been tested for it and don't really care to.

But your son's mild loss can be totally different compared to the next person who has mild loss, especially if he has APD.

I see no problem with your son learning ASL - it would allow your son to rest when he is tired of trying to fit in because he is not "deaf" enough or "hearing" enough. Wearing hearing aids gets exhausting...trust me.

I think your son sounds like he could have an APD but I'm not a specialist. Not having your son wear his hearing aids at random will not do him no good when he may need them. Hearing aids don't always help with mild losses and your son can wear them, depending on his type of mild hearing loss, when he wants too or needs them. I've gotten to where I take mine off and on depending on the situations. In class I wear them. At work I wear only the one on the right because wearing one on my left ear would make things too loud and hurt my ear...sometimes I don't wear them at all.

Your son will have to learn what fits him in these situations. I grew up hearing fine (I think so anyways :lol:) but I don't always wear my hearing aids everywhere like the audiologist wants me too. I learned what I can understand and what I can't with my loss when people speak.

Personally I never knew someone with a mild hearing loss could go to a deaf school - I always thought there had be higher level of hearing loss you needed to qualify and it depended on the schools looked at. I learned something today reading these forums on that.

I don't see why people are doubting deaf education though if that is what will benefit your son, then go for it. I just think you need to look at the academics and see which one will help your son the most in that field but which will also help accommodate your son the best. Maybe it is mainstream or maybe it is the deaf education route...

Also talk with your son and maybe explain which one will benefit him better in the future education wise? Allow to go to ASL summer immersion camps? I don't see why someone with a mild loss would only have to rely on speech only and go that route when they can benefit from ASL as well.

I wish I had the time to learn ASL...it would be wonderful to have to quit relying on hearing aids to understand full sentences all the time with what my professors are saying.
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That...

I see that with many children with mild hearing loss...they do use ASL to help fill the gaps that they miss out especially in academic settings where new concepts are being taught.

I know people question my beliefs but I have seen too many children with mild hearing loss fall behind academically because they didn't get the support while being mainstreamed and then get sent to deaf schools to make up for that lost time. Why put a child through that kind of frustration and possible destroying their self esteem? Why is being "hearing" so important? I think having higher knowledge and higher thinking skills is much more important than being "hearing".

Just my beliefs.
 
shel90 said:
That...

I see that with many children with mild hearing loss...they do use ASL to help fill the gaps that they miss out especially in academic settings where new concepts are being taught.

I know people question my beliefs but I have seen too many children with mild hearing loss fall behind academically because they didn't get the support while being mainstreamed and then get sent to deaf schools to make up for that lost time. Why put a child through that kind of frustration and possible destroying their self esteem? Why is being "hearing" so important? I think having higher knowledge and higher thinking skills is much more important than being "hearing".

Just my beliefs.
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Exactly.........why is functioning like a hearing person so important?
 
I can't answer that question to be honest because I feel I don't know a good answer. Maybe because those of us who are hearing or late deafened are too numerous. :lol:

Shel90, I see nothing wrong with your beliefs. I actually like your beliefs and agree. For my college education I'm wanting learn since I am paying for it. I'd rather spend my time getting the information faster (either ASL or whatever) than not get the most out of my education. I feel the same for mild loss and profound loss children as well. They need the most out of their education and if ASL provides that for someone, let the child learn it.

The fact that many members here have a higher level of education than many people thought they never would get simply because they are hoh/deaf shows people don't need sounds necessarily to succeed.
 
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Hi Wills Mom,

Yes, it IS frustrating, isn't it? I am experience the same this at my job right now. It is a battle.

Please, please get your son into ASL now. I am profoundly HOH and mainstreamed. I feel like I am missing out on so many opportunities because I do not know ASL. I took a summer course a few years back with my kids (I am 46) and never could pick it up because I had no one to sign with. The kids wouldn't use it daily.

Good luck and keep up the good fight.

Best,

Diane
 
KikLove said:
I can't answer that question to be honest because I feel I don't know a good answer. Maybe because those of us who are hearing or late deafened are too numerous. :lol:

Shel90, I see nothing wrong with your beliefs. I actually like your beliefs and agree. For my college education I'm wanting learn since I am paying for it. I'd rather spend my time getting the information faster (either ASL or whatever) than not get the most out of my education. I feel the same for mild loss and profound loss children as well. They need the most out of their education and if ASL provides that for someone, let the child learn it.

The fact that many members here have a higher level of education than many people thought they never would get simply because they are hoh/deaf shows people don't need sounds necessarily to succeed.
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Depends on whether you can use what hearing you have left beneficially in a job that would help you to be able to work independently and succeed. That has been my experience. And, you're right. You don't always need sound to succeed.
 
deafdyke said:
Exactly.........why is functioning like a hearing person so important?
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For this child it probably has something to do with the fact that he has MILD hearing loss and if the school district actually did what they were supposed to do 2 years ago, he might not be behind his peers.

I may be a controversial opinion but mild hearing loss is a problem but it can nearly always (99% of the time) be completely corrected with hearing aids. So "functioning like hearing" isn't a problem when you have hearing, and hearing that can be corrected easily.
This child isn't audiologically deaf. He certainly needs the FM system his school was supposed to install 2 years ago (but consider that FM boots are a change to hearing aids so I'd hope a parent would notice a half inch addition or lack thereof to their child's hearing aids)
 
I read a few of your threads and I am also leaning toward that your son might have reasons other than his mild hearing loss.

I have mild loss since first diagnosed at age 8. Right now left side is still mild and right side has progressed to moderate. And if my mother side family history is of any indication it will follow a slow progressive pattern. In addition, I also have mild APD and dyslexia. I would say I often feel APD affects my understanding of speech more than the mild loss does. Sometimes I get what is said perfectly sound wise, but I need to repeat it quietly in my head a few times to make sense of the meaning.

Not saying this is your son's case but just offering my experience.

If you want sign language for your son, I say go for it. It can't do any harm. In case should his loss turn out to be progressive (knock on wood) he would be prepared. But either way remember there is no perfect hearing. Even people with normal hearing miss things from time to time. :P
 
ecp said:
For this child it probably has something to do with the fact that he has MILD hearing loss and if the school district actually did what they were supposed to do 2 years ago, he might not be behind his peers.

I may be a controversial opinion but mild hearing loss is a problem but it can nearly always (99% of the time) be completely corrected with hearing aids. So "functioning like hearing" isn't a problem when you have hearing, and hearing that can be corrected easily.
This child isn't audiologically deaf. He certainly needs the FM system his school was supposed to install 2 years ago (but consider that FM boots are a change to hearing aids so I'd hope a parent would notice a half inch addition or lack thereof to their child's hearing aids)
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But doesn't he have the right to be able to function FULLY WITHOUT aiding?
Yes, he's not audilogically deaf.......but hearing aids DO still have their limits and aren't as good as nautral hearing......Why doesn't he have the right to function both with and without his hearing aids?!?!? Not to mention that if you make him HA dependent, you're saddling him with enormous financial burdens.......(in addition to car payments student loan payments, rent etc.....The financial struggle is hard enough for hearing people....imagine what it's like for people who have to pay out of pocket for hearing aids!!!(and who are not wealthy and who can't afford the latest hearing aid that lets you hear every single drop of pee in the toilet)Look at it this way.....with ASL he'll be BILINGAL and be able to parcipate in a rich fun culture.(and it could give.him advantages in employment...he could be an ASL fluent TOD,professor at Gally,professor at NTID,a res school dorm worker,an ASL instructor and so on!..I find it hilarious that the very same people who object to HOH/mild loss kids growing up with ASL and Deaf culture,would be all excited if their kid got to grow up bilingal in French and English or bilingal in English and any other language.....
The ONLY reason they don't see it that way,is b/c they view ASL and Deaf stuff as "different" and the mark of disabilty/special needs.....Seriously...why the heck should a bilaterally HOH kid be limited to spoken language only? Do you REALLY think that a dhh kid should have to ask their hearing date to use an FM device? Yes, he's not deaf or even severely HOH..........but growing up with ASL and Deaf culture can give him a sense of identiy and pride....
ASL and Deaf culture are also a lot of fun......there really isn't a lot of fun stuff with Hearing Health 101 stuff......
 
deafdyke said:
But doesn't he have the right to be able to function FULLY WITHOUT aiding?
Yes, he's not audilogically deaf.......but hearing aids DO still have their limits and aren't as good as nautral hearing......Why doesn't he have the right to function both with and without his hearing aids?!?!? Not to mention that if you make him HA dependent, you're saddling him with enormous financial burdens.......(in addition to car payments student loan payments, rent etc.....The financial struggle is hard enough for hearing people....imagine what it's like for people who have to pay out of pocket for hearing aids!!!(and who are not wealthy and who can't afford the latest hearing aid that lets you hear every single drop of pee in the toilet)Look at it this way.....with ASL he'll be BILINGAL and be able to parcipate in a rich fun culture.(and it could give.him advantages in employment...he could be an ASL fluent TOD,professor at Gally,professor at NTID,a res school dorm worker,an ASL instructor and so on!..I find it hilarious that the very same people who object to HOH/mild loss kids growing up with ASL and Deaf culture,would be all excited if their kid got to grow up bilingal in French and English or bilingal in English and any other language.....
The ONLY reason they don't see it that way,is b/c they view ASL and Deaf stuff as "different" and the mark of disabilty/special needs.....Seriously...why the heck should a bilaterally HOH kid be limited to spoken language only? Do you REALLY think that a dhh kid should have to ask their hearing date to use an FM device? Yes, he's not deaf or even severely HOH..........but growing up with ASL and Deaf culture can give him a sense of identiy and pride....
ASL and Deaf culture are also a lot of fun......there really isn't a lot of fun stuff with Hearing Health 101 stuff......
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Are you joking? A mild hearing loss means that he would likely be able to understand speech without his aids on. It would just be more difficult, especially in noise. How would he be unable to function without hearing aids?

And what is your obsession with hearing pee in the toilet?
 
TODtobe said:
Are you joking? A mild hearing loss means that he would likely be able to understand speech without his aids on. It would just be more difficult, especially in noise. How would he be unable to function without hearing aids?

And what is your obsession with hearing pee in the toilet?
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He's still not fully hearing........he has disadvantages that hearing people don't........I can understand some speech without my aids....my point is why make it more difficult for him? Visual processing is STILL a strengh even thou he can hear quite well......fact is oral only pushes aid usage during all waking hours....that pretty much says he's gonna be dependent on them.....
Here's my philosophy with dhh and other types of disabilties.....why not offer them a FULL toolbox,so THEY can decide themselves what tools are useful or not.......and I'm not obessed with hearing pee in the toilet....but it seems like HA/CI manufactors are OBESSED with making sure dhh kids can hear ...b/c after all it's such a tragedy that they're "hearing impaired"
 
deafdyke said:
He's still not fully hearing........he has disadvantages that hearing people don't........I can understand some speech without my aids....my point is why make it more difficult for him? Visual processing is STILL a strengh even thou he can hear quite well......fact is oral only pushes aid usage during all waking hours....that pretty much says he's gonna be dependent on them.....
Here's my philosophy with dhh and other types of disabilties.....why not offer them a FULL toolbox,so THEY can decide themselves what tools are useful or not.......and I'm not obessed with hearing pee in the toilet....but it seems like HA/CI manufactors are OBESSED with making sure dhh kids can hear ...b/c after all it's such a tragedy that they're "hearing impaired"
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Yes he is not fully hearing but the disadvantages that he will discover will be so minor that really he can get along as a hearing person.

My mom has had a loss of between 30db and 35db all her life, never been aided, never had any help at school, never needed anything extra because with a mild loss, you can function as a hearing person.

Tbh, wearing hearing aids is properly doing more damage then good because of the small bandwidth they have compared to people's ears.
 
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