Personal Narrative: My Child With Hearing Loss

An auditory processing disorder, is when your ears and brain don’t cooperate together, the ways in which the brain interprets sound through speaking and or sounds.

As I was laying on the cushioned couch on a Saturday afternoon, my phone began buzzing in my dark black Nike basketball shorts. As I read the caller ID I noticed that it was my mom. As soon as I picked up the phone I knew something was wrong. My mom's voice was scratchy, and depressed. As I picked up the phone she immediately told me the horrifying news. For a few seconds I had to comprehend what I was hearing. After I analyzed what she had said I screeched my lungs out, bawling hysterically, as if I had heard that the world was ending. For a moment I couldn't breathe, hearing that our healthy Chihuahua had passed away. After that tragic day, about a few months later, even though I was still awestruck by that wretched day the question finally

Louise was informed by doctors and Friends not to use gestures or sign to Lynn but to only talk to her and treat her as a normal child so that she someday may become oral and learn to speak.

I chose the task of being deaf for about 4 hours which I thought may be the easer and safest option for me but I was quickly surprised that being able to hear contributes to so many things in my life. For example not being able to hear my kids call me when they say mom was sad because a mother will always know there child’s voice even if she’s in the middle of Time Square on New Year’s. Therefore not being able to come to their aid quickly was my biggest challenge. I wasn’t able to laugh at the things that they were laughing at when we watched our family movie. I couldn’t do my job at work of answering my customer’s phone calls because I couldn’t hear. I was afraid to drive because I was scared that I wouldn’t hear

In Alice-Ann Darrow’s article “Teaching Students with Hearing Losses” she states that it can be difficult to involve students with hearing losses in the music classroom and in the regular classroom as well. There are a numerous amount of students with hearing losses ranging from the ages of six to twenty-one. About 71,000 of special education students struggle with a hearing loss. A majority of students go without knowing that they have a hearing problem. Although most people believe that a person must be good at hearing in order to be musical, it is stated to be not true. The music classroom is actually a great place for students to practice good listening skills. Since listening is a mental process and hearing is a physical. Objectives for hard at hearing students should include listening to music, singing, playing instruments, moving to music, creating music and reading music. Music should be presented to the student’s strength and preferences. It is also helpful to have students feel stereo speakers or instruments as well as the use of kinesthetic movements. Alice-Ann Darrow believes that involving students with hearing losses into the music class room can be difficult but in the long run beneficial to the student.

Getting parents involved is essential to supporting the development of a child with hearing loss. Counselling parents on the type and degree of hearing loss their child has and the effects of hearing loss is important. It is important to not focus solely on what the child cannot hear but also what the child can hear. Parents will need a lot of support in the beginning and it is my job as an audiologist to provide information and my professional advice. The goal is to help parents make the choices that are right for them and create positive outcomes for the child. It is necessary for parents to understand the benefit of amplification or intervention services so that everyone involved is working towards a common goal. Parents should also be knowledgeable of the services available to them and be prepared to advocate for their child. The school system provides supports for children with hearing loss and parents need to know how to obtain the services for their child. The audiologist can act as a resource for parents at any point as the child develops there will be new challenges. There is a partnership between the parent and the audiologist based on trust and a mutual understanding to provide the best care for the

I grew up at a Deaf residential school. For most of the time I slept there at the dorm. We –they had a night supervisor who also slept on site. Aww, she was such a very sweet old women. She retired at her old job and got a new job here at the Deaf residential school where I was staying. It was four of us girls she would watch. Nine-nine-thirty the lights were out. But at midnight, me and my three roommates decided we’d meet at- meet up. So I waited till midnight. I kept looking at my clock- is it time, is it time? And then the clock struck midnight. Me and my friends we met up. One of the girl had a boyfriend who came back from Canada. He had bought a whole sack of c-f- firecrackers when he was there. They’re not allowed here in the states but he bought them anyway.

This Is What It Is like to Be Deaf from Birth is a story about Cristina Hartman, explaining her personal experiences with a profound hearing loss (becoming deaf). Throughout Cristina’s experiences she explains, that being born deaf is quite normal; in other ways, it's not. She talked about things she did that were “normal” such as playing sports, playing with kids in the neighborhood, joining a sorority in college, and talking back to her parents. But with experiencing “normal” things she had to experience situations that were not normal, such as having to learn ASL, becoming a part of the schools deaf program, and identifying herself into a culture other than her parents. Early in her childhood, Cristina got a cochlear implant. The implant

Informal resources and supports I would suggest would be to rely on the current family system that Anna has. Formal resources and support I would suggest would be school counselors, private practice therapy, a nutritionist, possible companies or agencies that offer hearing aid alternative or hearing aid design alternatives (Kress & Paylo,

Both Humphries and Padden work together to create a pathway into the cultural life of deaf people. This is portrayed through a collection of personal stories, cultural and historical events, and artistic compilations that authors provide from an insider perspective. Throughout the reading I was engaged to readjust my understanding of the Deaf experience, evoking reactions and inspiration that I will share throughout this paper.

She was a healthy baby girl who seemed to look alright, no birth defects and no missing limbs. Louise and Tom continued to worry about Lynn even though she appeared healthy. Lynn laughed, smiled and cooed just like a normal baby. However, as Lynn grew they noticed she wasn’t responding to loud noises. An example was when Lynn was at the 4th of July fireworks. As the fire engines drove past and the fireworks went off Lynn acted like it did not phase her. She started to hit her head off the crib and rolling her eyes. Her parents took her to the doctor and after a lot of testing Louise and Tom found out the Lynn had a serve hearing impairment. It was not a definite diagnosis but they had to run more test when she gets older because it is more accurate. Many struggles came about with having a deaf child such as, her not being able to explain her emotions, what she wanted, and could not hear to learn rules and what is right from wrong. Lynn could mouth many words but there was never any

Claire is now transitioning into preschool, and her parents are worried about what Claire's first school experience will be like but luckily for Claire her new teacher, Ms. Williams, is a veteran preschool teacher and in the past, Ms. Williams has taught students with disabilities who use alternative communication systems but from what I read in the article Ms. Williams doesn't have any experience in working with children cochlear implant nevertheless she is very eager to learn and work with Claire. Ms. Williams seems a bit nervous to work with Claire and has several questions about cochlear implants. Ms. Williams has heard that the cochlear implant devices are very expensive and she is worried about simply keeping track of Claire's device, she also worries about the troubleshooting of the device if something goes wrong, is there a difference between teaching a child with a cochlear implant and teaching other children with disabilities. Although Ms. Williams is anxious to learn more about cochlear implants and how to best support Claire's developing listening and communication skills. Ms. Williams assumes Claire will need a variety of visual supports and she wonders about the different types of visual supports and accommodations that Claire might

Hearing loss is the most common physical disability in the whole wide world. In the United States alone, about 28 million people have some level of hearing impairment that interferes with their ability to understand normal speech and participate in conversations. Another 2 million cannot hear at all.

Hearing Dad actually say that to me, so many emotions started rushing at me all at once. Anger decided to hit me first, I just started screaming at him and I couldn't stop. "How come I was never told that I'm this all powerful witch and the fact I have two long lost sisters that had to be given away. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?" I felt so bad for yelling at him, but anger took over me I stormed into our house ran upstairs and decided to call Grandma Tammy. She is someone who I know without a doubt would never lie to me, besides it's pretty obvious when she lies. Falling down on my bed made sound like a relief, but waiting for her to pick up is a whole different story I just couldn't stop thinking about everything that I have been hit with.

In this society, people try to understand other types of cultures and groups, however, that does not always happen. There are people who have many misconceptions and others that just make stereotypes about a group. People are being misjudged because of all the stereotypes being made. Misconceptions and stereotypes are two different terms. However, both are direct to a certain group. Every person sees a group differently, that is why there are many stereotypes and misconceptions. Men and women have different points of view, resulting in different kinds of stereotypes. Deaf people are perceived as people who need to get “fixed”, who are not capable of anything, and who are freaks.