Confused about speech and amplification

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WeeBeastie

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Background:

My daughter is nearly 3. She was born with a severe-profound bilateral loss. Has been aided since 4mo. In Speech since 5mo. She is currently not using speech for communication at all (just noise :lol: ) and maybe has half a dozen 'word-like sounds'. She is developmentally around 12mo in speech, both receptively and expressively. She is not interested in speech and gets very frustrated with it to the point her signing was regressing and she was developing behavior issues. She has been signing since 7-8 months and is currently at 28-30 months developmentally in communication with sign.

At this point, as we prepare to transition her to the school system from early intervention, we are considering the various communication and educational options (so many! :shock: ). We are following her lead and feel that she will be most comfortable in a bi-bi setting with ASL as her first language (it is anyway) and written English as her second.

I really don't care if she ever speaks any language, just as long as she can communicate fluently and is literate in one or more written languages, starting with English. I will not force the speech issue. I'm not out to fix anything or make her something she's not. She is very comfortable signing and we are very comfortable with her being Deaf.

So, it as this point I'm wondering how long do we continue with hearing aids? What are the benefits of aiding an ASL child? What other benefits are there to being aided aside from spoken language? From the beginning, I insisted she would wear hearing aids until she graduated high school, when it wouldn't be my call anymore, but I'm beginning to second guess myself now.

Also, how long do we continue speech? She's not using it now, but that doesn't mean she can't eventually. I don't want to deny her anything, but at the same time I don't want to push her into something that's going to frustrate her and cause her to fall behind elsewhere.

I'm not out to make any big decisions now. Just looking for advice.
 
WeeBeastie said:
Background:

My daughter is nearly 3. She was born with a severe-profound bilateral loss. Has been aided since 4mo. In Speech since 5mo. She is currently not using speech for communication at all (just noise :lol: ) and maybe has half a dozen 'word-like sounds'. She is developmentally around 12mo in speech, both receptively and expressively. She is not interested in speech and gets very frustrated with it to the point her signing was regressing and she was developing behavior issues. She has been signing since 7-8 months and is currently at 28-30 months developmentally in communication with sign.

At this point, as we prepare to transition her to the school system from early intervention, we are considering the various communication and educational options (so many! :shock: ). We are following her lead and feel that she will be most comfortable in a bi-bi setting with ASL as her first language (it is anyway) and written English as her second.

I really don't care if she ever speaks any language, just as long as she can communicate fluently and is literate in one or more written languages, starting with English. I will not force the speech issue. I'm not out to fix anything or make her something she's not. She is very comfortable signing and we are very comfortable with her being Deaf.

So, it as this point I'm wondering how long do we continue with hearing aids? What are the benefits of aiding an ASL child? What other benefits are there to being aided aside from spoken language? From the beginning, I insisted she would wear hearing aids until she graduated high school, when it wouldn't be my call anymore, but I'm beginning to second guess myself now.

Also, how long do we continue speech? She's not using it now, but that doesn't mean she can't eventually. I don't want to deny her anything, but at the same time I don't want to push her into something that's going to frustrate her and cause her to fall behind elsewhere.

I'm not out to make any big decisions now. Just looking for advice.
Click to expand...

If you want her to communicate with people outside of ASL, you need to keep her hearing aids (eventually, she'll wear it everyday on her own). keep her speech if she is to learn about english and writing (and frustration is part of life, I've dealt with it many times growing up so don't let it stop you). But don't worry about if she doesn't use it all the time.

but make sure she have an interpreter or someone for other subjects, this is no time for her to practice her listening skills when she need to be learning.

I am severe hoh since birth who never learned sign languages.. most of my method of communication is verbal.

It's normal for a 3 years old don't want to have anything to do with hearing aids and speaking but don't give up... I think you are doing a great job and I wished my parents done the same thing instead of relying on verbal communication alone.

btw, they couldn't get me to speak either after I was 3 years old... and I didn't know sign language... then one day, my aunt refuse to let me point out what I wanted.. I had to say what I wanted... basically "pointing" was my first language LOL.
 
I had profound deafness all my life (mum knew i was deaf since the day i was born as there was fire alarm at the hospital and i was the only baby who slept through it) had problems getting help, doc's labelled her as over anxious mum.
Finally diagnosed at 2 and wore aids since then, I was 5 when I began to speak, I had signed since I was 2 (BSL then SSE when i started speaking)
 
I didn't start speaking until 5 either. And she probably should wear hearing aids, whether she likes it or not.

You wouldn't let her eat just candy if she said she didn't like healthy food, would you?
 
No. I realize the importance of hearing aids. She doesn't mind wearing them at all 12+ hours a day. She wants to wear them.

My point was, which I failed to make clear, if she is a non-verbal Deaf child by her own choice, are there benefits to wearing aids not relating to spoken language? She's not using her hearing for communication at this time. According to her aided audiograms, she is getting benefit from them, but it's limited and she's not using it. If she's not using it for communication, what other purposes are there for amplification?

My purpose in asking this is we have been told they should be replaced every 5 years or so. Our insurance does not cover them at all (or ear molds, hearing tests and all the associated appointments for fitting/testing). How long do we keep shelling out $3500+ for appliances she doesn't need/use? (I know this sounds selfish, but I assure you it's not. It's not that we don't want to spend the $. We simply don't have it.) I will continue to keep her in hearing aids for as long as necessary, until she's an adult if it's what's right for her.

In short, at what point can I just let her be Deaf without being accused of 'giving up'? As I said above, I don't care how she communicates as long as she is fluent in her best method. right now, that's ASL.

I guess what I'm looking for is experience from folks who have been through it. Before my daughter was born I had no exposure to d/Deaf people, culture and all the experiences involved. Since then, I've had a million-and-one people throwing information at me, but really no advice. "Only you can decide what's right for your child." I don't want others making my choices, but I do want to become as educated as possible so that I can make the best decisions possible. I'm not looking for excuses for not having to provide. I'd just like to know, from an experienced viewpoint, how this might effect her.
 
Environmental sounds are as important to understanding the world around you as is hearing speech sounds. Just because she doesn't currently appear to be utilizing what she is getting through her HAs does not mean that she won't eventually be able to use it for some discrimination assistance. And just because she is not using what she gets through her HAs for expressive communication (i.e. speech) does not mean that she isn't relying on it to some extent receptively.
 
How does one begin/start a new thread from within this one? Used to be able to.....
 
WeeBeastie said:
My point was, which I failed to make clear, if she is a non-verbal Deaf child by her own choice, are there benefits to wearing aids not relating to spoken language? She's not using her hearing for communication at this time. According to her aided audiograms, she is getting benefit from them, but it's limited and she's not using it. If she's not using it for communication, what other purposes are there for amplification?
Click to expand...

My hearing aids weren't powerful enough for me to reach the speech banana so therefore never heard any spoken language/ high freqencies, I learnt to speak through Speech therapy, feeling people's throats, lipreading etc. My parents and Speech therapist never gave up and celebrated when I finally said my first word at age of 5 "chocolate" then my speech erupted then and being a girl I natter for england. I speaks well now days and not many people would realise that I am deaf.

I had HA's for Environmental sounds.
 
WeeBeastie said:
Background:

My daughter is nearly 3. She was born with a severe-profound bilateral loss. Has been aided since 4mo. In Speech since 5mo. She is currently not using speech for communication at all (just noise :lol: ) and maybe has half a dozen 'word-like sounds'. She is developmentally around 12mo in speech, both receptively and expressively. She is not interested in speech and gets very frustrated with it to the point her signing was regressing and she was developing behavior issues. She has been signing since 7-8 months and is currently at 28-30 months developmentally in communication with sign.

At this point, as we prepare to transition her to the school system from early intervention, we are considering the various communication and educational options (so many! :shock: ). We are following her lead and feel that she will be most comfortable in a bi-bi setting with ASL as her first language (it is anyway) and written English as her second.

I really don't care if she ever speaks any language, just as long as she can communicate fluently and is literate in one or more written languages, starting with English. I will not force the speech issue. I'm not out to fix anything or make her something she's not. She is very comfortable signing and we are very comfortable with her being Deaf.

So, it as this point I'm wondering how long do we continue with hearing aids? What are the benefits of aiding an ASL child? What other benefits are there to being aided aside from spoken language? From the beginning, I insisted she would wear hearing aids until she graduated high school, when it wouldn't be my call anymore, but I'm beginning to second guess myself now.

Also, how long do we continue speech? She's not using it now, but that doesn't mean she can't eventually. I don't want to deny her anything, but at the same time I don't want to push her into something that's going to frustrate her and cause her to fall behind elsewhere.

I'm not out to make any big decisions now. Just looking for advice.
Click to expand...

It sounds like you are doing a great job. I wish more parents of deaf children had attitudes like yours. Keep up the good work. (hugs)

If she is happy with her HA then keep them on. If she keeps taking them out, then just leave them out.

Some people take to hearing aids, some don't so in this area I'd leave the decisions entirely up to her.

Withdrawing hearing aids is not like feeding her Candy.
 
WeeBeastie said:
No. I realize the importance of hearing aids. She doesn't mind wearing them at all 12+ hours a day. She wants to wear them.

My point was, which I failed to make clear, if she is a non-verbal Deaf child by her own choice, are there benefits to wearing aids not relating to spoken language? She's not using her hearing for communication at this time. According to her aided audiograms, she is getting benefit from them, but it's limited and she's not using it. If she's not using it for communication, what other purposes are there for amplification?

My purpose in asking this is we have been told they should be replaced every 5 years or so. Our insurance does not cover them at all (or ear molds, hearing tests and all the associated appointments for fitting/testing). How long do we keep shelling out $3500+ for appliances she doesn't need/use? (I know this sounds selfish, but I assure you it's not. It's not that we don't want to spend the $. We simply don't have it.) I will continue to keep her in hearing aids for as long as necessary, until she's an adult if it's what's right for her.

In short, at what point can I just let her be Deaf without being accused of 'giving up'? As I said above, I don't care how she communicates as long as she is fluent in her best method. right now, that's ASL.

I guess what I'm looking for is experience from folks who have been through it. Before my daughter was born I had no exposure to d/Deaf people, culture and all the experiences involved. Since then, I've had a million-and-one people throwing information at me, but really no advice. "Only you can decide what's right for your child." I don't want others making my choices, but I do want to become as educated as possible so that I can make the best decisions possible. I'm not looking for excuses for not having to provide. I'd just like to know, from an experienced viewpoint, how this might effect her.
Click to expand...

yes, if she want to make a decision to have cochlear implant done in the future.. it doesn't really work with people who never wore hearing aids.
 
btw, there are some hearing aids insurance out there. Hearpo is one of it. Maybe you can get your company you work for to sign up for it (some health insurance include it to their package like my husband's job)
 
dreama said:
It sounds like you are doing a great job. I wish more parents of deaf children had attitudes like yours. Keep up the good work. (hugs)

If she is happy with her HA then keep them on. If she keeps taking them out, then just leave them out.

Some people take to hearing aids, some don't so in this area I'd leave the decisions entirely up to her.

Withdrawing hearing aids is not like feeding her Candy.
Click to expand...

totally agree
 
It's important for her to keep the HA's on if she seems to hear a bit. I rely on HAs for environmental purposes and it helps me a lot with lipreading, also it helps me gauge whether if my voice is loud whilst talking.

I would let her progress with whatever methods she's comfortable with and encourage her. As for learning English, having CC on TV/DVD and read a story to her will help her learn.

Best of luck.
 
WeeBeastie said:
Background:

I really don't care if she ever speaks any language, just as long as she can communicate fluently and is literate in one or more written languages, starting with English. I will not force the speech issue. I'm not out to fix anything or make her something she's not. She is very comfortable signing and we are very comfortable with her being Deaf.

So, it as this point I'm wondering how long do we continue with hearing aids? What are the benefits of aiding an ASL child? What other benefits are there to being aided aside from spoken language? From the beginning, I insisted she would wear hearing aids until she graduated high school, when it wouldn't be my call anymore, but I'm beginning to second guess myself now.

Also, how long do we continue speech? She's not using it now, but that doesn't mean she can't eventually. I don't want to deny her anything, but at the same time I don't want to push her into something that's going to frustrate her and cause her to fall behind elsewhere.
Click to expand...
I think everyone has good tips here. again, you are doing great and great mom. I was born profoundly deaf and using ASL. My parents made me wearing the old fashioned "zenith" silver hearing aid box. My mom had never been forced me into spoken language, but continued to send me to have speech therapy. Well, the point was that she always encouraged me to wearing hearing aids through years while i was in school. I am glad that my mom did it that i think the sound environmental are important for me. At first, i wasn't pay attention to the sound for some years until i get older and realize that i start to get use to the hearing aid. I realize that i had to adjust the sounds to match my hearing aid. I start to notice some sounds that i do familiar with for my own beneficial.
It's important for you to ask your girl to see if she feels comfortable hearig the sound that is not too loud for her. sometimes the sounds gave me headaches when i didn't understand how or what was that headaches and i took it off. I didn't tell them why becasuse i didn't understand how to say it. Audiologist didn't ask me how did i feel or hear okay with hearing aid. It's ok for her to wear hearing aid for the sound enivornmental that she can hear with hearing aid then keep them until she gets older to decide. I agree that hearing aids are so expensive but sometimes having hearing aids are beneficial to kids' listening to the sound.
 
I also have a Deaf child who uses ASL as her primary language. Her hearing loss is progressive, so she got a lot more benefit from her aids when she was young, unlike your child. My daughter did not learn spoken language well either. She attended a bi-bi preschool and kindergarten.

My daughter always wanted her hearing aids. She wore them every waking hour starting 2 weeks after we got them (the first two weeks were rough). She seemed to benefit from them, but her spoken language never made progress. We continued with them for enviromental sounds and she could recognize her name and turn to it. That was a huge benefit. Plus, if we screamed "STOP!", she would. That is worth it's weight in gold.
 
Overthepond, I love that your first word was "chocolate." IMHO, that's one of the most important words in the world.
 
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