New Member from South Africa

[Guest guest]

Hello,

My name is Lynda and I have a 1 year old son, Ethan. who was born with right

atresia microtia (he was born without a right ear or opening to the ear).

They believe he is deaf in that ear. His left ear appears physically normal

on the outside but tests have shown that there are abnormalities and his

hearing is +/-30dc. He wears a hearing aid but it is extremely difficult to

keep it on him. He successfully dismantles his hearing aid in a matter of

seconds after I put it on (the ear mould stays behind while the rest is

ripped out). He has already bitten a piece out of his ear mould and because

he is at that age where everything goes straight to the mouth I am finding

it hard to keep it on his ear and out of his mouth. I am so excited to be a

member of this group and would like to please ask for advice on the

following questions:

1) How do you keep the hearing aid on a 1yr old toddler? I have tried

distracting him but he's no fool... My audiologist suggested taping it on

but he pulls it off despite pulling out a couple of strands of hair in the

process!

2) Ethan has hearing of 30dc in his left ear and is presumed deaf in his

right ear. Have other parents in a similar situation found that their

children cope better if they are equipped to lip read as well? I do believe

that it would be beneficiary for Ethan to learn to lip read as I have a

terrible fear that should he lose what hearing he does have for what ever

reason he would then be able to still cope without the feeling of being

isolated or cut off from everyone.

3) Do children with Ethan's hearing capacity cope better in a school for

children with hearing difficulties or are they able to attend schools where

children have no hearing difficulties? I know Ethan is still very young and

only time will tell but I want to equip him as best as I can so your advice

will be greatly appreciated.

Looking forward to your replies,

Lynda

South Africa