25 dB?

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TracyR

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Hello all,
I have just joined the forum. I am the mother of a little boy with Down syndrome and mild hearing impairment. (25 dB in his left ear and 40 in his right). He is three years old and has no words, and it is assumed by his therapists that it is because of his hearing impairment, so we are hoping that when he gets his hearing aids his speech will start coming. The hearing center would like us to get two hearing aids, but the insurance won't help cover the cost in the left ear (25 dB). My question is if I should fight to try get it, or is it enough to aid the right (40 dB)?
Thank you so much.
Tracy R
 
25db is within the range of normal hearing. That sort of hearing loss dies not halt the development of language. Hopefully he is learning sign language.
 
Neither of those losses are tooooo bad, although the 40 should be corrected. I'm with the other poster though, I doubt that hearing loss has affected his speech too much. If it were a few letters or pronunciation issues, yes, but no language at all? I don't think so. I would really get him signing. I would go with the one aid for now.
 
Sign for Down's syndrome is VERY highly recommended and widely used. This is particularly because of the large tongue and other anomalies.
 
Join your local Special Olympics chapter, and you will meet many others that have invaluable info to share on what is available. Plus, if you attend the Special Olympics events, there are always vendor booths set up, chances are someone has info for you on getting hearing aids through your local government.

Unfortunately, as I have learned the hard way being a parent of a special-needs child, you will have to do all the hard work of researching and obtaining info.
 
He is three years old and has no words, and it is assumed by his therapists that it is because of his hearing impairment
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Agreed with everyone here!!! I'm kinda HUH?!?! over that. The speech delay with Down's kids tends to be more due to either mental disability issues (even learning disabled kids can have spoken language issues) or due to apraxia, rather then due to hearing issues. In other words they tend to be like the kids at Children's Center for Communication, Children's Center for Communication (CCC) Programs rather then "speech delay due to not being able to hear"
You should contact your state's School for the Deaf, and see what they can offer. It's always possible his spoken language issues are apraxia-like, in which case he would do AWESOME with ASL. The majority of schools for the Deaf have programs for those with additional needs. Not all kids at deaf schools are deaf. Many are HOH (either functionally or audilogically) Heck, there's some research indicating that kids with unilateral loss may have spoken language issues.
Then again, its possible he may have mental disability style speech delays, in which case he might do better with an augmentive/alternative communication approach.
 
whoa! I've been in your kid's boat ever since (I was mild-moderate with 65% in one ear and 75% in the other before lol)
 
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