Newbie, lots of questions

Noob question: what does "EI" stand for?
 
Wirelessly posted (Blackberry Bold )

Arthaey said:
Noob question: what does "EI" stand for?
Click to expand...

EI : Early Intervention

Its a term used for a very wide range of services for those who have any physical, mobility or cognative challenges.

EI can include speech& listening therapy, sign language, cuing, pre-reading and reading, independance training, socilization options as well as support for the family.

Most EI now (different than 20years ago) can be done in a "play style" or "natural learning" methodology.

Regardless of the amount of an infant/childs hearing loss they should be getting some types of EI which are tailored specifically to their needs. A child with mild HL is going to be very different than a child with severe HL. A child with profound/total deafness is going to have similar, but slighty different needs than what a child with severe HL will need etc.
 
Oceanbreeze said:
Yes, actually, you did. I was stating that if one wants to prevent language delays, they should take advantage of services early; rather than later. This is a toddler and the sooner he gets services the better for him. Level of loss doesn't matter in this case.

I'm sorry if you see it differently.
Click to expand...

Yes it does. The amount of loss makes a difference in what services are needed. I write from experience.

I'm sorry if you see it differently. :roll: What else is new?
 
CSign said:
Ocean, I completely agree with you.

The earlier children get linked up with EI, the better off they are. It doesn't make sense for a person to wait until their child has delays in kindergarten to get support. If they are in an accessible environment from the beginning (regardless of the degree of loss), and have access to services they are being set up for success.

Happy to see you around! :wave:
Click to expand...
Csign, Agreed most likely 95%. BUT, and this is a huge BUT does therapy therapy therapy at exact second of dx REALLY make a giant difference vs. waiting a few months?
Demanding that a baby/little kid be put into therapy INSTANTLY, and that it become a part of their regular every day lives really does pathologize babyhood. It's almost like the parents who demand that their baby be put into Jr Kumon or who have syllabuses for playtime... There is therapy that helps kids aquire an additional skill or indepedance, and then there's "GOTTA CATCH UP ASAP, otherwise the kid will end up being one of those ASL card people.
 
AlleyCat said:
Yes it does. The amount of loss makes a difference in what services are needed. I write from experience.

I'm sorry if you see it differently. :roll: What else is new?
Click to expand...

AlleyCat, please reread the post Ocean was answering: a suggestion was made that early intervention with an HOH child could be harmful, rather than beneficial and that deaf/hoh kids did just fine in the past without such early intervention language services and could do so now. Ocean is stating otherwise, that deaf and hoh alike can benefit greatly from early intervention.
 
deafdyke said:
Csign, Agreed most likely 95%. BUT, and this is a huge BUT does therapy therapy therapy at exact second of dx REALLY make a giant difference vs. waiting a few months?
Demanding that a baby/little kid be put into therapy INSTANTLY, and that it become a part of their regular every day lives really does pathologize babyhood. It's almost like the parents who demand that their baby be put into Jr Kumon or who have syllabuses for playtime... There is therapy that helps kids aquire an additional skill or indepedance, and then there's "GOTTA CATCH UP ASAP, otherwise the kid will end up being one of those ASL card people.
Click to expand...

DD, I know you are imagining some grisly therapy session, but EI services are very different: EI is one way that a parent who is not currently fluent in ASL can provide ASL language services to a deaf or hoh child. This is a 16 month old who should be bathed in language, and an ASL-fluent SLP can work with the child in a natural play environment and provide these parents with many resources to jumpstart this learning. There IS an urgency here.
 
Wirelessly posted (Blackberry Bold )

Agreed.
DD, EI typically has individuals interacting in a positive, fun way with the infants/child playing games etc while also working on language (associating signs with objects etc) as well as helping parents learn how to do the same daily.

It is not the "speech therapy" that many of us had in school 20years ago.

For the most part PROPER EI should be a positive experience both for the child and family - certainly not a "stressful" one.

And yes, time matters. The sooner EI starts the better language foundation is built. Monthes do matter - soon is always the better.
 
Oceanbreeze said:
The level of loss doesn't matter, Deafdyke. They need to get hooked into services asap so their child doesn't experience language delays. The longer you wait, the harder it will be for the child to learn a language. So, EI is crucial; unilateral loss, bilateral loss, profound loss, or, anything in between....
Click to expand...

Anij said:
Wirelessly posted (Blackberry Bold )

Regardless of the amount of an infant/childs hearing loss they should be getting some types of EI which are tailored specifically to their needs. A child with mild HL is going to be very different than a child with severe HL. A child with profound/total deafness is going to have similar, but slighty different needs than what a child with severe HL will need etc.

And yes, time matters. The sooner EI starts the better language foundation is built. Monthes do matter - soon is always the better.
Click to expand...



Thank you, Anji. That is exactly what I was trying to say. I didn't misread anything as was insinuated above (not by you, Anji). Time does matter -- I do agree very much on that point. But, level of loss DOES matter as well. It's what I said in my initial post also. 5 different deaf people will have 5 different levels of services.
 
AlleyCat said:
The level of loss DOES DOES DOES make a difference. Talk to 5 different people with different levels, you will get 5 different answers as to what gets experienced with language.
Click to expand...

This is what your original post said in this thread, with the unnecessary and hurtful words removed. Not quite what Anji said, but that's okay.

You are absolutely correct that 5 different people will experience language, learning and speech differently. I'm presuming your implication is depending on the degree of hearing loss. I totally agree with you on that point.

However, what could each of those 5 people have benefitted from in their own unique way? Early Intervention. The sooner the better, regardless of the degree of loss. That was Ocean's point that seems to have been swept out to sea.

In terms of, "levels of service"... Well, each individual will receive different services depending on their own unique needs, so you can't compare 2 different people, or 5 different people. Each has their own unique set of needs and circumstances.
 
Anij said:
Wirelessly posted (Blackberry Bold )

Agreed.
DD, EI typically has individuals interacting in a positive, fun way with the infants/child playing games etc while also working on language (associating signs with objects etc) as well as helping parents learn how to do the same daily.

It is not the "speech therapy" that many of us had in school 20years ago.

For the most part PROPER EI should be a positive experience both for the child and family - certainly not a "stressful" one.

And yes, time matters. The sooner EI starts the better language foundation is built. Monthes do matter - soon is always the better.
Click to expand...

:gpost: I think part of the challenge is that many people are going off what they experienced 20, 30+ years ago. Things are very different now.
 
deafdyke said:
Csign, Agreed most likely 95%. BUT, and this is a huge BUT does therapy therapy therapy at exact second of dx REALLY make a giant difference vs. waiting a few months?
Demanding that a baby/little kid be put into therapy INSTANTLY, and that it become a part of their regular every day lives really does pathologize babyhood. It's almost like the parents who demand that their baby be put into Jr Kumon or who have syllabuses for playtime... There is therapy that helps kids aquire an additional skill or indepedance, and then there's "GOTTA CATCH UP ASAP, otherwise the kid will end up being one of those ASL card people.
Click to expand...

I haven't read anywhere about people recommending this child be "put in therapy instantly". I've seen productive and thoughtful responses (for the most part). The underlying theme of each response was to get linked up with EI as soon as possible. There are good reasons for that.
 
CSign said:
This is what your original post said in this thread,

You are absolutely correct that 5 different people will experience language, learning and speech differently. I'm presuming your implication is depending on the degree of hearing loss. I totally agree with you on that point.

However, what could each of those 5 people have benefitted from in their own unique way? Early Intervention. The sooner the better, regardless of the degree of loss. That was Ocean's point that seems to have been swept out to sea.

In terms of, "levels of service"... Well, each individual will receive different services depending on their own unique needs, so you can't compare 2 different people, or 5 different people. Each has their own unique set of needs and circumstances.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I said, thank you for reinforcing my point. Seriously? You people are tiresome. I said exactly what you just reinforced, that 5 people will experience different levels of services based on degree of loss. LEVEL OF LOSS DOES MATTER! :facepalm inserted here: I never argued against timeliness of this. Good grief. I so dislike people sounding off like they've had years of experience in this when they know nothing, such as OB (yes, I'm totally willing to call her out on this) and I BASICALLY SAID WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, enough, already! Done with this thread. My goodness.
 
AlleyCat said:
That is exactly what I said, thank you for reinforcing my point. Seriously? You people are tiresome. I said exactly what you just reinforced, that 5 people will experience different levels of services based on degree of loss. LEVEL OF LOSS DOES MATTER! :facepalm inserted here: I never argued against timeliness of this. Good grief. I so dislike people sounding off like they've had years of experience in this when they know nothing, such as OB (yes, I'm totally willing to call her out on this) and I BASICALLY SAID WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, enough, already! Done with this thread. My goodness.
Click to expand...

As to the bolded above, that's not quite true. One person with a severe hearing loss who received EI for example, may not require as many services as someone with a mild- moderate loss at age 8 (let's say). The reason, because the child wasn't in an accessible environment and didn't receive services to meet their needs in their formative years. On the other hand, the child with a severe loss attended school
through EI, and received the support which enabled them to be on par with their peers. That child may not require many additional services because they didn't fall behind. That's just one example. There are countless others. So really, the degree of hearing loss has little to do with "the level of service". What it comes down to is what that individual child's individual needs at any given time.
 
Wow, so I definitely did not mean to be stirring up this trouble. Anyhow, I finally got a response out of EI (pediatrician never sent the referral, wtf) and we have our first meeting with them tomorrow. In the mean time, the hubby and I are sign cramming pretty hard and are trying to use at least one sign in every sentence with our daughter. We can see the signs 'clicking' with her--like 'finally people are speaking my language.' She particularly seems to like that signing anything that looks like jump or dance makes her parents act silly :)

-smelly
 
Hmm, apparently I'm only allowed to post if approved by a mod. I didn't realize I had written anything inflammatory. I'm thinking coming to this forum for advice, during an already intense time, was not so helpful (given the flame war that ensued). I'll just go back to relying on local friends/family. To those of you who were helpful, thanks.
 
smellyshoes said:
Hmm, apparently I'm only allowed to post if approved by a mod. I didn't realize I had written anything inflammatory. I'm thinking coming to this forum for advice, during an already intense time, was not so helpful (given the flame war that ensued). I'll just go back to relying on local friends/family. To those of you who were helpful, thanks.
Click to expand...

That usually works better than asking a bunch of strangers on the internet.

Plus using your area education agency. And yes this is what is done in my family.

This is just for socialization.
 
smellyshoes said:
Wow, so I definitely did not mean to be stirring up this trouble. Anyhow, I finally got a response out of EI (pediatrician never sent the referral, wtf) and we have our first meeting with them tomorrow. In the mean time, the hubby and I are sign cramming pretty hard and are trying to use at least one sign in every sentence with our daughter. We can see the signs 'clicking' with her--like 'finally people are speaking my language.' She particularly seems to like that signing anything that looks like jump or dance makes her parents act silly :)

-smelly
Click to expand...

You didn't stir up trouble. There are some people who do that on their own. Don't give it a second thought.

Hope your appointment with EI goes well. Let us know how it goes...
 
smellyshoes said:
Wow, so I definitely did not mean to be stirring up this trouble. Anyhow, I finally got a response out of EI (pediatrician never sent the referral, wtf) and we have our first meeting with them tomorrow. In the mean time, the hubby and I are sign cramming pretty hard and are trying to use at least one sign in every sentence with our daughter. We can see the signs 'clicking' with her--like 'finally people are speaking my language.' She particularly seems to like that signing anything that looks like jump or dance makes her parents act silly :)

-smelly
Click to expand...

You didn't stir up any trouble at all. It's AWESOME that your daughter is responding so well with Signs!!!! YEAH!
 
smellyshoes said:
Wow, so I definitely did not mean to be stirring up this trouble. Anyhow, I finally got a response out of EI (pediatrician never sent the referral, wtf) and we have our first meeting with them tomorrow. In the mean time, the hubby and I are sign cramming pretty hard and are trying to use at least one sign in every sentence with our daughter. We can see the signs 'clicking' with her--like 'finally people are speaking my language.' She particularly seems to like that signing anything that looks like jump or dance makes her parents act silly :)

-smelly
Click to expand...

I learned sign before age 2 (I was born deaf) and that went a long ways, and am very thankful for that.
 
Back
Top