I'm new here would love some advice

[TinaMarie]

Hello everyone. My name is Tina and I have a 17 month old HOH son. Jayden failed his newborn screening test in his left ear and passed in his right. He has moderate to severe hearing loss in his left ear, and his right ear so far has been fine. He has worn a hearing aid since he was 3 months old, and it has been a pain in my butt. He hates to wear it, he refuses to wear it. There is nothing wrong with the hearing aid or his ear, we have checked a few times. He just thinks it's more fun to throw it, and hide it. Tape doesn't keep it on, and a otto clip, forget it..he pulls that off too.. That is one problem that I am facing right now. Any ideas on how to make his hearing aid his friend and not his enemy? Also, Jayden is behind. He just now started walking, and his speech isn't the best. He can say mama, dada, i(means hi), og(means dog), pppp(is his up), itty(is kitty), beep beep(anything with wheels and anything that moves), baby, and a few other things that i don't know what he is saying. He understands to wave bye, he'll get a toy if you ask him to go and get a toy. He lets you know when he wants something easy. If he wants up, he pulls on you and says ppppp. If he wants a drink he brings you his cup, to play he brings a toy..and that's about it. I have tried to sign with him since he was 7 months old, but nothing. I can't seem to get him to pick up anything. I am the only one who is trying. My fiance (his dad), my parents, his parents, none of them have even tried to sign...It seems like i'm the only one who cares. I honestly do not know what to do about it. Our early childhood program is honestly not something that i want to do. I know my son has a hearing problem and all of that, but somehow i just can't seem to make myself think that it's a good idea.
I need help...

 

[deafdyke]

Off the top of my head, although it's not THAT common for unilateral hoh kids to have a spoken language delay, it HAS been seen. Where in Minnisota are you? I would contact either the school for the Deaf (in Faribault) or North Star Academy, and see if they can't hook you up with local services. With dhh kids you really need Dhh specific early intervention, rather then EI for kids with developmental and physical disabilties.

 

[Bottesini]

Off the top of my head, although it's not THAT common for unilateral hoh kids to have a spoken language delay, it HAS been seen. Where in Minnisota are you? I would contact either the school for the Deaf (in Faribault) or North Star Academy, and see if they can't hook you up with local services. With dhh kids you really need Dhh specific early intervention, rather then EI for kids with developmental and physical disabilties.

Looks like he must have some other developmental disability which they should seek help to identify.

 

[shel90]

Looks like he must have some other developmental disability which they should seek help to identify.

At 17 months old, I dont think he really has a developmental delay...most likely the delays are due to the fact he is not getting full access to language so he needs to be enrolled in an ASL program as soon as possible. I have a feeling that his language will take off once that happens.

 

[deafdyke]

Looks like he must have some other developmental disability which they should seek help to identify.

Botte, that might be true, but I know of kids who were basicly developmentally normal who had unilateral loss and a speech delay. That's not nessarily a red flag.
It might be syndrome related, (some kids with syndromes have spoken language delays even thou they are developmentally normal) or might just be a delay where they will catch up.

 

[lovezebras]

this could be just a delay and nothing else related to the hoh ear...my lil cousin is 21 months i believe and he doesnt say much..ball, mama, dada, and a few lil things here and there that don't make sense to anyone but family ..but no sentences no full words and stuff like that yet...

 

[GrendelQ]

Hi Tina Marie, I had some initial hesitation about the early intervention program, too, but it turned into the most important and valuable thing we did -- and that was months before we had a medical diagnosis of my child's deafness (although I knew right off the bat, of course ) .

Our state requires that new adoptees start off in the program, so my little 1 year old met with our EI rep a week after she was home from China. Not only did our EI rep beginning signing with her from that first day (Li-Li didn't know English, so what better way to bridge the gap), but she happened to be an SLP (speech language pathologist) and agreed with me that we had an auditory issue of some kind even though our pediatrician doubted my concern and was -- I think -- humoring me with a referral to an ENT. Li-Li was diagnosed as profoundly deaf about 3 months later (and now wears bilateral CIs), so those first critical months using ASL were well spent!

This wonderful, signing EI rep was not familiar with Deaf culture at all at the time, and yet she opened up a world of options. Based on our needs and wishes, she reallocated our 3X a week home visits to enable us to attend a wonderful parent-infant program at a school for the deaf, and receive 2X a week SLP services while at the school, signing us up for free Family Sign classes (family, neighbors, friends, all invited) in our home on Saturdays, and pointing us to all the great state resources, including a Deaf mentor. Our Deaf mentor took us all on a tour of the school we ultimately chose (along with several others), and our EI rep immediately saw the benefits, given Li-Li's needs. Most of the children in the group were wearing aids and CIs in the group, so having them on became very familiar to Li-Li, who HATED her aids and tossed them regularly (they weren't helping, and they were seriously cranked up) -- and I found all sorts of tricks to making them stay on. Fortunately, she asks for and puts on her own CIs every morning, so no longer a problem!

Our EI rep came with us to meetings with audiologists, to mapping sessions at the CI clinic, she walked us through the IEP system. The month we started in the PIP program, a few spots in the school's faculty/staff onsite daycare opened up, and Li-Li began attending almost daily: all signing staff, deaf teachers, a perfect situation -- I had searched far and wide for daycare with ASL in use without any success, and there it was. And then, the same month Li-Li transitioned from PIP into the daily preK program, our EI rep/SLP applied for a job and was hired at the very same school -- and continues to be Li-Li's SLP today, 3 years after we were first 'forced' to meet with her. She's an amazing woman, and certainly knows her Deaf culture now, working at a bi-bi school , and Li-Li adores her and thrives in her care.

So, if you haven't guessed by my endless gushing, I highly recommend that early intervention program, and any possibility of an ASL parent infant program -- you never know what wonderful things might come of it.

 

[djchur]

He just now started walking, and his speech isn't the best. He can say mama, dada, i(means hi), og(means dog), pppp(is his up), itty(is kitty), beep beep(anything with wheels and anything that moves), baby, and a few other things that i don't know what he is saying. He understands to wave bye, he'll get a toy if you ask him to go and get a toy. He lets you know when he wants something easy. If he wants up, he pulls on you and says ppppp. If he wants a drink he brings you his cup, to play he brings a toy..and that's about it.

My three children, who are all hearing, were slow starting to speak, although they all started walking early. From my experiences it sounds as though Jayden is not particularly late in his speech development, I don't think my kids were saying that much at the same age. Kids with unilateral hearing loss are not usually too delayed with speech as they can still hear with their good ear, so try not to worry too much.