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Need to understand this new life i will have to adjust to.

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My two year old was not meeting milestones as early as 9 months. I expressed great concern to her doctor to no avail of getting help. They were telling me give her three months she will talk. This went on for a year and a half before they gave her the first hearing test. She has failed three different hearing screenings and they still have not given answers to how bad her hearing is or what type of hearing assistance she will need. Now they want to do the test in the operating room. I am not able to get her to speak no matter what I try. Please give me advice on how to communicate with my non verbal hearing impaired daughter? I do aggressively teach her sign language on my own and she seem to know some things but i want to get her to initiate things with me.

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I’m going to assume you’re in the US. If you’re not getting any help from your doctors, I’d contact the head of Special Education at your local school district and ask for advice. Requesting a referral to a Speech pathologist would be another possibility.

Hi there. I don’t have any experience with a hearing impaired child, so I don’t have much advice, and maybe my advice is not appropriate, but I did do a little baby signing with my (normal hearing) daughter when she was a baby. I’m not sure what you mean by ‘aggressively teaching’ her sign language, but with babies this is a slow process. In my experience you just need to be patient, and keep repeating the signs. Just pick one or two at a time (like maybe eat, or milk, or some other frequent word) and use it consistently when it is appropriate. It may not seem like she is getting it, but she is watching and learning. I remember with my daughter I did one or two for a few months and was just ready to stop (I was only doing it for ‘fun’) when she suddenly started using the signs that I had been using. I would be concerned that being too aggressive about it may backfire, or confuse her. But again, I am definitely not an expert, hopefully you can find a resource with better advice.

When I say aggressively i mean giving her long exposure to simple words she can use to tell me things. I just want her speech to come in and feel a little defeated because she can’t understand me.

Again, if you’re not satisfied, it’s always ok to get a second opinion. I’m guessing you’re getting a lot of “I don’t know” answers to your questions. Ask who would and get a referral. Off the top of my head, I’d consider getting an evaluation by a neuropscyhologist, but not sure if it’s appropriate at this age.

Do they react to any sound? My child couldn’t hear speech in normal situations but whilst we were waiting to be diagnosed I used to sit them on my lap every day for half an hour & read to them speaking clearly & with good volume right next to their ear (from a very young age). They would go very still and would concentrate on the book. Being close can give them the vibrations of speech and they see the pictures in the book matching to the vibration & any sound available, to help prepare them for eventually being enabled to hear more. There are lots of support groups to help, I know it’s a lot to take in but my child is now grown up and very happy.

She does not react to sound. And i noticed when things such as a trash truck or the vacuum didn’t startle her. She still doesn’t react to music especially the kid’s videos that teach abc’s and 123’s. I do a lot of motor activities with her like stacking and matching because I know she is mainly visual right now. I do get as close to her as possible to talk. all of her responses are just uh. And she does a lot of pointing. I have hope things will get resolved for her hopefully soon.

Once the hearing loss type is diagnosed there will be a much clearer path forwards. I had grommets for glue ear but needed two hearing aids and then speech lessons but soon caught up (aged 5). Learning to read at a young age helped massively for me & for my son. Always having subtitles on the tv can enable familiarity with words & images even at this age, leading to an easier introduction once in education. Particularly with children’s programmes where the topics will be simpler. It sounds like you are already doing the right things in being aware and thinking about how to help her.

Edited

Where do you live? Here in Canada, we have The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids.) It’s a specialized hospital for children and is ranked one of the best in the world. When my son was having issues that other doctors couldn’t or wouldn’t diagnose, I took him to SickKids, and it was diagnosed within hours. It ended up being a severe lifelong condition. Health care is free here, so cost isn’t an issue. In the US, I’d see what hospitals are covered by your insurance and get her to a children’s hospital specializing in children.

A bit of Googling around:

Best Specialized Hospitals 2022 - Pediatrics1

Good luck! Don’t accept ‘I don’t know’ as an answer. Drive to the source and find out who is willing to help.

I live in Washington dc in the united states. She is currently under the care of children’s hospital’s Ent and hearing and speech clinic. I just feel like they are dragging their feet. I have applied for a better insurance for her knowing hearing aid’s cost an arm and a leg. I have advocated for my daughter since she was 9 months old and as angry as I am about this process, it is a process she must go through. Thank you so much.

I’m glad to hear she’s under the care of a children’s hospital .

If you feel they are dragging their feet, my advice is to be the squeaky wheel. Keep calling them and asking for updates every week. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Also, remember that Costco sells hearing aids as well, and for MUCH cheaper than typical providers. That said, you’ll need to know the full extent of the diagnosis before shopping around.

Get advice from HLAA at hearingloss.org2. Or attend their local chapter (Find it on the web site.) and at their meetings your meet people with a lot of knowledge about hearing loss.

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