Unilateral Hearing Loss

I don't, put my one of my best friends son was death when he was born and I think at the age 1 or 2 she decided to have the implant put in. He is now10 and he can here as long it's on and batteries are working ( they are basic hearing aide batteries). He can talk and read very well and he is main stream school he gets alot of speech therapy and extra help with home work if he needs it. I did even notice that he was wareing an implant when I first met him 5yrs ago.

Plus My baby brothers son was born death. Now the mother's side of the family is death( mother, father, and younger brother is impared). Because she was born and raised in a death community she refused for him to get the implant. (I disagree but u know he not my child) He is now 9yrs old and he is struggling to read but signs very well and about a month a ago said said MOM for the first time. He attendents a death school in the home town which he lives in, so he doesn't have to be far from family. My family attends signing classes 1-2 days wk. so they communicate with him. I live so far away All that I would learn I WOULD FORGET before I would be able to share it with him. But went I go to visit he "talks" to me and teaches me to sign and that is very special to me becase that is our way of bonding. He is a GREAT and FUNNY kid and I love him just the same.
I hope this helps to easy your mind alittle Don't be afraid there are posibilties
out there. Just do some research and talk to more people about this and keep your family involed. He needs them in he live too.
CindyC

My son developed bilateral high frequency loss when he was 3. his was drug induced, so we know exactly when it happened. he is 9, he wears hearing aids, and he is mainstreamed in school. W/ very few issues.

No, I don't have children with a hearing loss but as a Speech Pathologist I've worked with parents and colleagues with children like yours. What is the extent of the loss? Is it profound? Does your son have hearing aides or an amplifier? I've met people who taught their hearing loss children sign language and learned along with them while also speaking to them- it's called Total Communication- speaking and signing. I used to work with children your son's age who did great with Total Communication at the John tracy Clinic in CA. Check it out at Johntraceyclinic.org as they may have some good resources for you. It sounds like he's getting help from the coordinator and he's doing well which is great. It sounds like you're on the right track. Good luck!

One of my little brother's sons has hearing loss. It is gradually becoming worse but he has been signing since he was about a year old or so. It is a bit difficult for him and I to communicate because I am blind whereas he has hearing loss; however, he has learned to sign in my hands and I can sign to him where he can see me even though I can't see him. All his siblings sign including his step-siblings from my brother's wife.

I suggested they make play dates, before they had all 7 of the children although one doesn't live in the home. My SIL's daughter lives with her ex-husband in a joint custody arrangement. In their play dates, because they started out so young, the hearing kids thought it was really cool to learn to sign. It was like their own private language. My brother and I knew some sign language. I went to school with a deaf girl and my brother did when he was in school. I knew considerably more than he did and his wife didn't know any so I worked with them between visits from the tutor who was teaching their son as well as the parents. Of course there was somethings I had forgotten and even today, if I get something wrong, he will correct me by placing my hands in the right position. LOL!

You have to realize that I raised my little brother so he is more like my son than my brother and the kids are more like my grandchildren than my nieces and nephews.

There is a chance he will be able to get an implant before too long. They are still mulling it over, the benefits vs the risks. The one area we all agree on is that they are not sending their son to the school for the deaf. He will be raised at home with his siblings and he will attend public school.

I am firmly against schools for the blind and schools for the deaf because they do not concentrate on bringing the kids out of their blind and/or deaf world but instead they isolate them from everything they must learn to live with upon becoming an adult like going to college with hearing and/or sighted kids and getting jobs or driving (deaf people can drive; there is a deaf couple who live in the subdivision across from us who has a son who is fully hearing even though both parents are deaf and both drive). I have run into them at the grocery store a few times and on a few occasions I have had to translate between them and the cashier at checkout. Back when I was working, there was a deaf woman who lived on the service for the company I worked for and since I knew how to use the TDDY services and could sign, when she came out to the office I was the one who took care of whatever she needed because nobody else in the office could sign. I even taught our technicians how to stomp on the porch or bang against the wall next to the door so the wife (the woman who was deaf) could feel the vibrations and realize someone was there. After a tech left one day without doing his job because he was a bit of a bigot, I jumped down his throat with both feet then I dragged him with me to her house where I taught him a thing or two about communicating with the non-hearing. I was livid with him for well over a month or so and made his life a living hell until he apologized for his behavior and swore it would never happen again. But I digress...

Has the coordinator taught you how to buy toys or how to stimulate your child in playtime? One of the things my friend who was deaf enjoyed and my nephew/grandson enjoys is placing his ears against the speakers of their stereo to hear the vibrations. It can keep him occupied for hours on end.

I could be wrong but it sounds as if your son is bored and wants something to challenge him. He is almost into his terrible twos now. He is learning about independence and being a boy and that there is a whole world out there especially now that he has a teacher who can teach him things. I would seriously consider having a few play dates with a couple of little boys his age so they can play together and I'd go about finding accessible toys for him to play with in the meantime. Try the speaker trick. Like I said, it kept my brother's son occupied for hours. He loved the thumping vibrations. He still does even now. His mom and dad are always having to make him turn the stereo down when they have heard enough to get headaches from it. LOL!

You'll do great. It just sounds like he may need more stimulation than he is receiving at the moment and that is just tied into his coming into his terrible twos a bit early.

Warmest regards and all my best wishes,

P.

PS: Perhaps Ruthy G can recommend some toys that will keep him occupied that are right for his age level considering his hearing loss. You may want to check out independent Living Aids and/or Maxi-Aids. I think both stores have toys for the blind and deaf children.

I actually have a basketball set we use that contains a box that makes a buzzing sound that is velcroed over the back of the goal to give me an audible clue as to where to throw the ball. The basketball has a bell inside so I can hear where it is and there is a separate sounding bell that attaches to the netting on our basketball goal so I can tell when a shot is made. We also have a blind-friendly and sight-friendly Scrabble Deluxe Game I play with the girls or rather now it's just the one as our oldest moved closer to college a couple years ago. Now I play with my husband and/or with our youngest daughter. I know these are not quite what you need but it will give you an idea of what is out there. This is something specific to the blind but there are toys specific for the deaf.

Hi. My daughter has unilateral hearing loss - profound loss (no hearing) in her right ear. She is now 14, is a straight-A student and a great athlete. Your son will be fine! Her school uses an FM amplification system in her classrooms, which her teachers feel benefits everyone. She sits in the front of the room and focuses on her teachers. She can read lips a little (she picked up this talent over the years). I often forget about her hearing loss because she does so well. She says it's hard to hear in restaurants and on airplanes. She used to play basketball and there's a lot of background noise there....she did fine, but again had to focus. She's had no problem playing soccer, but we've never let her be goalie because we don't want her to get kicked in her good ear. She used to not want anyone to know about her hearing loss, but now I hear her tell her friends "sit on my good side" when they are at a movie, etc. It's a bummer that our kids have this, but we always say how lucky we are that it isn't something worse!