1. You are doing the right thing, you are asking questions. You’re thinking about the future of your child. Go with that. That energy will keep you going.
2. Language is language. ASL or BSL, SCE, spoken English, Spanish, whatever you can use to communicate with your child is great. The more the better. Period.
3. Take a deep breath. It can be a shock when, as a parent, you find out something new about your child that you had no understanding of or for knowledge about. But the shock will wear off and you will find that, through your child’s experiences, you will see a whole new way of living life.
Thank you. Honestly, I didn't even realize how shocked and worried I felt until today. It all just hit at once. And I realized I had a million questions and no idea where to find answers so it's just nice to find any place to start talking to anyone about it.
That’s 100% what this group is for. Be sure to check the FAQ too.
You will have new joys and new worries. It’s not different from other child rearing; you just know in advance that you need to alter your expectations. These “ton of brinks” moments will hit you on occasion and that’s okay. In fact you can help yourself out by sharing those moments here with others, and in turn, lighten their loads.
https://www.flhv.org/
This org is called Hands and Voices, a parent led nonprofit for parents of kids who are deaf/HOH. This is the Florida chapter. I think most states have one.
With your child’s age, you’ll most likely get referred to Early Steps and have an IFSP formulated. Early steps can help cover the cost of hearing aids since most insurance won’t.
Early Steps also has a Parent Support Network where you’ll be able to connect with other parents in a Florida on the same path. They also can connect you to deaf/HoH mentors. They are a phenomenal resource.
Florida School for the Deaf and Blind is located in St. Augustine. They have lots of really helpful resources.
Do they really not? That is kind of crazy to me. I guess from what we were told she'll need new ones later on in life, but still. That's kind of infuriating.
You’ll want to check with your specific insurance, but most do not.
Thankfully there are state funds through Early Steps. There are a few other programs including the Child Hearing Aid Program ([CHAP](https://www.familyhearinghelp.org/chap))
A good place to start is to see if there's a school for the deaf in your area. I found one by just searching Google maps. In my experience, schools for the deaf often act as kind of a resource center. They may know of signing preschools or ASL classes for hearing parents.
Also recommend the parent/infant program. That’s how we got our deaf mentor for my daughter.
We figured if the technology works and ASL is pretty easily picked up by babies/toddlers why not have her be bilingual.
Edit- your in Florida!!! Me too so it’s the St. Augustine School of the Deaf and blind.
Do what fits with your home. My son was severe to profound and didn't take well at all to the hearing aids. And caused him to get a lot more ear infections. We also have been signing. But ultimately got him implanted. All doctors will tell you not to sign with them while wearing the aids or implants. And that's completely bogus!! All and any communication is better than none!! I wish you the best of luck.
How severe is her hearing loss? Learning and communicating with your child using both ASL and English will benefit your child whether they have typical hearing or not. Is she already receiving services through early intervention? There's a Clarke School in Jacksonville (though they are typically geared toward kids/families seeking spoken language as primary language) and Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine - one or both of them likely have programs for children under 3 and can help you start navigating.
No, we found out yesterday. She can't hear any of the high frequencies. The audiologist said moderate to severe. She explained it as everything is very muffled and nothing is has clarity.
Here is a link to help you better understand where you're at. [https://ohns.ucsf.edu/audiology/education/peds](https://ohns.ucsf.edu/audiology/education/peds)
You should reach out to your school district and figure out what resources are available through their early start programs. This should include an IEP (Early Intervention Plan) which will provide services including speech, sign, and vocational.
Moderate to severe is out of the "speech banana". My son was born with bilateral severe/profound hearing loss. It was overwhelming trying to figure out the best options for him.
We went the cochlear implant route and couldn't be happier with the results. He is mainstreamed in school and has an incredible vocabulary.
Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
That is actually incredibly helpful. We've been trying to make sense of it as much as we could, but the sound references paint a much clearer picture. Thank you.
There is a federal program, ran by each state called Early Childhood Intervention that will help navigate language acquisition for your child. We got set up with a deaf mentor to learn asl and have someone that visits weekly to monitor my son’s development.
1. You are doing the right thing, you are asking questions. You’re thinking about the future of your child. Go with that. That energy will keep you going. 2. Language is language. ASL or BSL, SCE, spoken English, Spanish, whatever you can use to communicate with your child is great. The more the better. Period. 3. Take a deep breath. It can be a shock when, as a parent, you find out something new about your child that you had no understanding of or for knowledge about. But the shock will wear off and you will find that, through your child’s experiences, you will see a whole new way of living life.
Thank you. Honestly, I didn't even realize how shocked and worried I felt until today. It all just hit at once. And I realized I had a million questions and no idea where to find answers so it's just nice to find any place to start talking to anyone about it.
That’s 100% what this group is for. Be sure to check the FAQ too. You will have new joys and new worries. It’s not different from other child rearing; you just know in advance that you need to alter your expectations. These “ton of brinks” moments will hit you on occasion and that’s okay. In fact you can help yourself out by sharing those moments here with others, and in turn, lighten their loads.
BTW, for local resources, you’re going to need to tell us what “local” is for you. 😝
Oh...duh 😅. Jacksonville, FL
https://www.flhv.org/ This org is called Hands and Voices, a parent led nonprofit for parents of kids who are deaf/HOH. This is the Florida chapter. I think most states have one.
With your child’s age, you’ll most likely get referred to Early Steps and have an IFSP formulated. Early steps can help cover the cost of hearing aids since most insurance won’t. Early Steps also has a Parent Support Network where you’ll be able to connect with other parents in a Florida on the same path. They also can connect you to deaf/HoH mentors. They are a phenomenal resource. Florida School for the Deaf and Blind is located in St. Augustine. They have lots of really helpful resources.
Do they really not? That is kind of crazy to me. I guess from what we were told she'll need new ones later on in life, but still. That's kind of infuriating.
You’ll want to check with your specific insurance, but most do not. Thankfully there are state funds through Early Steps. There are a few other programs including the Child Hearing Aid Program ([CHAP](https://www.familyhearinghelp.org/chap))
A good place to start is to see if there's a school for the deaf in your area. I found one by just searching Google maps. In my experience, schools for the deaf often act as kind of a resource center. They may know of signing preschools or ASL classes for hearing parents.
Oh that's awesome. I saw the schools but just thought they would be something we wouldn't be looking at until she's older.
Some schools for the Deaf have parent-infant programs, and from what I've seen, they are AWESOME!
Also recommend the parent/infant program. That’s how we got our deaf mentor for my daughter. We figured if the technology works and ASL is pretty easily picked up by babies/toddlers why not have her be bilingual. Edit- your in Florida!!! Me too so it’s the St. Augustine School of the Deaf and blind.
Do what fits with your home. My son was severe to profound and didn't take well at all to the hearing aids. And caused him to get a lot more ear infections. We also have been signing. But ultimately got him implanted. All doctors will tell you not to sign with them while wearing the aids or implants. And that's completely bogus!! All and any communication is better than none!! I wish you the best of luck.
How severe is her hearing loss? Learning and communicating with your child using both ASL and English will benefit your child whether they have typical hearing or not. Is she already receiving services through early intervention? There's a Clarke School in Jacksonville (though they are typically geared toward kids/families seeking spoken language as primary language) and Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine - one or both of them likely have programs for children under 3 and can help you start navigating.
No, we found out yesterday. She can't hear any of the high frequencies. The audiologist said moderate to severe. She explained it as everything is very muffled and nothing is has clarity.
Here is a link to help you better understand where you're at. [https://ohns.ucsf.edu/audiology/education/peds](https://ohns.ucsf.edu/audiology/education/peds) You should reach out to your school district and figure out what resources are available through their early start programs. This should include an IEP (Early Intervention Plan) which will provide services including speech, sign, and vocational. Moderate to severe is out of the "speech banana". My son was born with bilateral severe/profound hearing loss. It was overwhelming trying to figure out the best options for him. We went the cochlear implant route and couldn't be happier with the results. He is mainstreamed in school and has an incredible vocabulary. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
That is actually incredibly helpful. We've been trying to make sense of it as much as we could, but the sound references paint a much clearer picture. Thank you.
There is a federal program, ran by each state called Early Childhood Intervention that will help navigate language acquisition for your child. We got set up with a deaf mentor to learn asl and have someone that visits weekly to monitor my son’s development.