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Deesandy
Member
08-12-2003
| Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - 9:24 pm
My girlfriend just found out that her one week old baby has a hearing loss of 30-40% meaning that her baby cannot hear voices. They have been told that he probably will not be able to go to a regular school. Of course they are seeking a second opinion. Has anyone been through this and if so, what advice can I pass along to them?
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Tabbyking
Member
03-11-2002
| Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - 10:09 pm
my son has a hearing loss of 35%in one ear and 45% in the other. he has been in regular classes all his life. he wore a hearing aid for first and second grades, until kids teased him a lot. he just compensated after that. he is in college and it is very tough, but not just due to his hearing loss. who said a hearing loss of 30 to 40% meant the baby couldn't hear voices? my son has trouble if there is 'background' noise and some tones are harder for him than others, but he can certainly hear 'voices'. that's the strangest thing i ever heard of...to tell a person a certain percentage meant it was 'voices' the person wouldn't hear, especially if a baby is only one week old. they can't even do proper testing on hearing at that point. my brother was almost deaf until he was 2. he retired from the marines and is graduating magna cum laude from college next month. he is going to be a history teacher.
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Tabbyking
Member
03-11-2002
| Wednesday, April 21, 2004 - 10:34 pm
i know they do hearing tests on newborns in many hospitals and it is required in some states before the baby is discharged, but i do not understand the parents being told it was 'voices' the baby would not be able to hear. my son has trouble hearing voices if there is background noise, such as wind or music or something like that. he only ever failed the 'wind type' hearing tests. it was the 'whoosh' noise that blocked out the tone he was listening for. he learned to sit in the front row in class and to listen 'harder', but he was never told his hearing percentage meant specifically that he would not hear voices. let us know what the parents find out! it will be interesting to see what develops. but i can't imagine someone telling new parents that a baby probably won't be in 'normal' classrooms. sounds 'defeatest'...so early on!
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Deesandy
Member
08-12-2003
| Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 4:47 am
Tabby, I guess it has something to do with decibels. I will try to find out more. I too thought it was odd that they were told such harsh info for such a young child and am glad they are getting a second opinion.
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 5:55 am
Me too Deesandy!! My son has a moderate to severe hearing loss in the high frequency range. We were told no one will give us a % of loss, its not done that way, its done with decibals, and frequencies etc. Contact the school district. Find out what resources are available THERE FIRST!! Its free. They will give your friend a list of audiolgist who will order the hearing aids however, the school district has a pre pre school (infants not sure, toddlers absolutely!!) program, my dd friends younger sister was diagnosed at 16 months and has had services come to their home, at age 3 she qualified to go to a school program. The services she recieved at home were speech, and I believe some OT (occupational therapy) at home, as well as a case director to help mom navigate thru everything. At age 3 she goes to a preschool, NOT a deaf/hard of hearing school, which surprised me because the deaf/hoh school is physically attached to our dd's elementary school, and the older kids are mainstreamed into our school!! The deaf/hoh school is where my son attended. There he received all kinds of services from age 3-5 it was a half day, half day here consisted of 8am - 2pm!! They mainly concentrated on speech sounds, and pictures, and play, socializing was big too. My son learned to sign, but that was because it was a total communication school, which means they signed everything (every word) and he "picked" it up... it was such a blessing for us... at 2 no one could understand him... I'll never forget (oh they have parent classes in basic sign) when we were driving he was asking about a gas station, I had no idea... I asked if he could sign it, he did, i understood... I never stopped learning sign after that!! The school audiologist also has a audiogram that they use to plot the hearing loss.... but the difference is they also plot normal sounds, including the speech sounds... I dont have one here, I should look online for it... for instance normal hearing is at 0 -20 I believe... well the consanants are splattered around the different decibals, some are higher for instance the "s" and "f" and "th"... whereas the vowels are able to be heard at lower decibals... which helps my son read lips and hear and piece together things to get by.... Also by having the services at home, it helps reinforce those hearing aids for toddlers... those early sounds are imprtant, they have found that when the deaf kids are given the cochlear implants, they are 'afraid' (for lack of a better word) of normal background noises, and then of course all noises together are just that loud noises... when you've never heard noises and to be suddenly bombarded by sound, it can be frightening... imagine, to have the peace of silence so interrupted... so the earlier they can amplify the environment, the better comfort they experience noise in their world... {{{hugs}}} to your friend. As a teacher, and one who tried but dropped out of the deaf/hoh program at college, it still comes as such a shock.
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Deesandy
Member
08-12-2003
| Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 6:05 pm
Has anyone heard of "ottotoxicity"? It is the name for hearing loss caused from giving a baby antibiotics. I guess there have been lawsuits over it. Thank you for all the info Reader. I am trying to do as much research as I can. I spoke to a nurse who works at a school for the deaf and she too thought that the doctors are jumping the gun and that things can change with maturity...he could even grow out of it. My girlfriend is a french teacher and her husband a musician. They both want to share their passions with their child and have fears that they may not be able to.
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Thursday, April 22, 2004 - 6:56 pm
OK, now Dee, have they seen the movie, Mr. Holland's Opus? I dont reccommend it to them,but you could check it out... with a box of kleenex!! audiograms...easier said than done in finding them audiogram I like this website, click on Part 2, that takes you to a page that plots the speech/consonant-vowels I was talking about... Guide to Hearing Loss If I remember correctly some premature babies are often given meds to save thier lives, but do cause deafness... a mom was telling me about this, her child was born severly premature, and she cherishes her dd, but mom knew that dd would be deaf, and alive. That child did not have an easy time in those early years, she was alway so tiny, and susceptable to pnemonia, but today, she is a healthy, strong, independent High Schooler.. its been a priveledge watching her grow up, knowing she only has 1 lung, deaf, and spent many months in ICU...
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Deesandy
Member
08-12-2003
| Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 5:48 pm
From my friend: Hello All- As most of you know, Nate was diagnosed with an Hearing Impairment this past week. We are pursuing a second opinion and will be agressively searching for options and education. But there is no denying that he does indeed have a hearing loss- as to what degree is yet to be positively determined. We are remaining optimistic and in any case will be pursuing ways to give Nate a very normal and successful life. At present, his hearing loss is diagnosed as a loss of 30 to 40 decibals. This is labeled Mild to moderate and spoken language will be difficult for him to hear and understand without amplification (hearing aides). If this diagnosis is correct, he will need speech therapy to learn how to speak correctly. Of course this is only from one doctor and we will let you know more once we know more.
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Reader234
Member
08-13-2000
| Sunday, April 25, 2004 - 6:25 pm
Dee, I have such goosebumps, and tears forming in my eyes.... my ds name is Nathan - meaning "gift of God" his hearing loss is around that area... please let them know that GREAT things are going to happen to and for Nate!! I'm telling you with the early intervention, with that speech therapy today most people label my son as "the kid who thinks he cant hear!! please feel free to email me if I can be of any help at all, but I know in my heart, it is,and has, and continue to be = FINE!
Thanks for the update
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