Re: new member/mild loss question

[Guest guest]

It was so good for me to hear sometime say that their child lives in an

" In-Between " world--not hearing--not deaf--This is my daughter to the T---she

has a moderate-severe hearing loss & I have always felt this way & I'm sure

she does to.

[Guest guest]

Hi Lynda and welcome to the list --

The first thing I wonder is how " mild " is the loss? Do you have results from

the latest hearing test? Are they using the term " mild " because the loss is

only in the high-frequencies or is the loss truly, technically mild in those

frequencies (i.e. 20-40 dB)?

My daughter was 6 years old when diagnosed with a high-frequency loss

(roughly 50-60 dB from 2000 to 8000 Hz). We were immediately encouraged to

aid her -- which we did. We are nearly three years since initial

diagnosis -- the hearing loss has been slowly progressing and we've

incorporated an FM system in school as well.

You are absolutely right in that a high-freq loss results in an inability or

difficulty in distinguishing between some consonant sounds - " s " , " th " and

" f " being particularly hard. If she isn't wearing her aids, my daughter

sometimes " drops " these sounds when she's talking because she's unable to

hear them and self-correct.

I guess I'm of the opinion of " why make it harder " . If the playing field for

your daughter can be leveled by aiding her, then I'm an advocate for doing

so. I could go through all kinds of stories about how the aids (and now FM

system) have benefited my daughter, but suffice to say that we couldn't live

without them -- particularly in school!!

I find that the children with hi-freq loss live in a world " in-between "

hearing and deaf -- not really fitting into either world. So, please email

me offline if you ever want to chat.

Pam

new member/mild loss question

> Hello.

>

> I'm a new subscriber who is very happy to have found this list. I look

forward to learning from

> you all. My 7 year old daughter was just diagnosed with " mild " hearing

loss, stemming from

> cochlear damage (please forgive if my vocabulary isn't up to par yet--I am

on a very steep

> learning curve here). Her loss is in the higher frequencies.

>

> After spending a few days doing some research on my own, I feel like the

word " mild " is misleading

> to some extent. It seems that my daughter has very unreliable ability to

distinguish consonants.

>

> Here's my question: it seems to me that even with this " mild " condition

(and I do realize that

> there are parents out there dealing on a daily basis with greater hearing

losses and I don't want

> to sound like I'm unaware that we are, to some extent, lucky) she would

benefit from hearing aids,

> at least. The audiologist seemed inclined to take a " wait and see "

attitude, though he told me

> that it wouldn't get better but could get worse.

>

> My feeling at this stage of my education is that there's absolutely no

reason my daughter should

> be spending any more time trying to decipher what is going on around her

if there are mechanical

> ways to help her. I am extremely aware, however, that I know very little

about any of this yet.

> Before I get back with this audiologist, or with another one (!), I was

hoping to get some

> feedback from you all.

>

> Are there any drawbacks or downsides to having her fitted with hearing

aids? I was thinking that

> she has almost a month before school starts to adjust to them and to have

them adjusted to her,

> and I'd like to get started on it.

>

> Also, if the audiologist remains on the " wait and see " wagon, would I be

well advised to try to

> find one who would fit her?

>

> Thank you so much for everything I've already learned. I " m looking

forward to a long and

> productive relationship.

>

> Lynda

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 7/28/01 6:25:14 PM Central Daylight Time,

lyndazwinger@... writes:

> Also, if the audiologist remains on the " wait and see " wagon, would I be

> well advised to try to

> find one who would fit her?

>

Welcome to the list Lynda. If your audiologist seems a little to passive for

what you're comfortable with, then by all means go to another one for a

second opinion. I'm sure that hearing aids would help your daughter. I know

of teenage twin boys who were diagnosed with a moderate loss when they were

about 6. Up until then, their parents couldn't really tell there was a

problem because they seemed to get along just fine. Hearing aids corrected

their loss to the normal hearing range. They were mainstreamed in school the

whole time and only needed speech therapy for a short while compared to

someone with a more severe loss. Good luck to you.

Suzette

[Guest guest]

Lynda,

I would only recommend (no matter what the first audiologist says) to go

for a 2nd opinion. If you are concerned about the aids being the right

ones always inquire about the time trial period...look into local (usually

large) hospitals about a loaner program too. There are options and it

looks like you are asking a lot of the right questions. Good luck. Martha

At 04:25 PM 7/28/01 -0700, you wrote:

>Hello.

>Here's my question: it seems to me that even with this " mild " condition

>(and I do realize that

>there are parents out there dealing on a daily basis with greater hearing

>losses and I don't want

>to sound like I'm unaware that we are, to some extent, lucky) she would

>benefit from hearing aids,

>at least. The audiologist seemed inclined to take a " wait and see "

>attitude, though he told me

>that it wouldn't get better but could get worse.

>

>My feeling at this stage of my education is that there's absolutely no

>reason my daughter should

>be spending any more time trying to decipher what is going on around her

>if there are mechanical

>ways to help her. I am extremely aware, however, that I know very little

>about any of this yet.

>Before I get back with this audiologist, or with another one (!), I was

>hoping to get some

>feedback from you all.

>

>Are there any drawbacks or downsides to having her fitted with hearing

>aids? I was thinking that

>she has almost a month before school starts to adjust to them and to have

>them adjusted to her,

>and I'd like to get started on it.

>

>Also, if the audiologist remains on the " wait and see " wagon, would I be

>well advised to try to

>find one who would fit her?

>

>Lynda

>

>__________________________________________________

>