Hearing loss poses an extra challenge for both the victim and other family members. With timely and proper interventions, your child can continue learning and communicating. They can still acquire necessary life skills and reach developmental milestones at the expected time. Here are five ways to help a child with hearing loss.
1. Seek Early Treatment
Typically, a Toronto hearing test can detect hearing loss shortly after a child is born. It is important to begin hearing loss treatment soon after diagnosis. Early treatment can stimulate the sound pathways in the child’s brain.
A pediatric audiologist can advise you on the best treatment. Typical treatments include Toronto hearing aids for children and cochlear implants. Such early treatments can help even in situations of profound hearing impairment.
2. Use Early Intervention Services
An early intervention program can help you coordinate all the care and services your baby will need. You can liaise with hearing specialists to come up with treatment goals and an individualized plan. Such a program can also offer you support and teach you how to assist your child to cope with hearing loss. You can find an intervention program through your family doctor, local public school or hospital.
3. Be Your Child’s Advocate
Since you live with the child, you understand what works and what does not work well for the child. Make sure that the team helping your child, incorporate you in their decision making. Communicate to the team what you think is best for the child. Be involved with the child’s care. Learn about hearing loss, and available Toronto hearing aids for children. Ask questions and fight for what your kid needs. Speak up for the child.
4. Find Help and Support for Yourself
Living with hearing loss is understandably hard. Immediately after the Toronto hearing test, you and your family require emotional support.
You can go for counseling or join a support group. When you talk about your experiences, you unburden yourself and find relief. Support groups let you connect, find validation, and learn from the experiences of other families coping with hearing loss. You may learn about important health care providers, new Toronto hearing aids for children, meetups, and conferences. You may also find some humour in the whole challenge.
There are local and online support groups. Your child’s doctor can advise you on local support groups. Remember that it’s easier to help your kid with hearing loss if you receive support too.
5. Assist Your Child to Learn Sounds
When you explore sounds and speech with the child from an early age, they will learn language more quickly. Find the time and opportunities to add sounds to the child’s day. Here are simple ways to do this:
Play games that teach imitation- Such games can teach the child about turn-taking during conversations.
Read to the child- Read interesting stories to your baby. Describe the pictures as you read and depending on age, ask the child to point to the pictures or name them.
Talk about your present activities- Talk about the places you may be going to or the things you’re doing.