How Do You Prep Teachers For Your Deaf and Hard Of Hearing Child?
Charlotte is going into first grade and still needs help explaining her hearing equipment.
While she has gotten so much better at advocating for herself, I still help her in many ways. Every year at the start of school I prep Charlotte’s teachers with what is going on with Charlotte and how her technology works. I thought sharing that email with you all would be helpful, as well as having it on the blog, her teachers could bookmark this page and not have to dig through for emails to get reminders on stuff.
Hope this helps whomever might need “teacher prep” ideas…
Please don’t hesitate to send me questions or additional ideas of what you do, so I can try to answer or add your ideas to this blog. The together we can help even more families!
Speech Therapy At School
Regarding Speech Therapy before school on Tuesdays and Thursdays:
Charlotte will ride the bus with her friends Tuesday and begin speech with Ms. Sharon Thursday.
We talked about this today, and she asked if Ms. Sharon would be walking her to class, like last year. I confirmed that with her and explained that it's super helpful for all of us, to let Ms. Sharon share what you are working on with Ms. Rogers. She seemed positive about it, but we know some mornings she's more open to it than others. (*Note to blog readers, Ms. Sharon is our auditory verbal speech therapist resource through the county where we live. She’s been working with Charlotte since she “graduated” from early intervention. I give Sharon tons of credit for teaching me how to work with Char every day on improving her articulation. And hats off the Charlotte for being so open to corrections and trying so hard every day!)
Thanks for the reminder about Char's hearing equipment not being waterproof, Laura. Charlotte is very thoughtful about her ears. She will keep a raincoat in her backpack to make sure she has it at all times, just in case. (*Note to blog readers: Laura is a Teacher of the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing/ Exceptional Education Teacher who meets with Charlotte twice a week during class to help with whatever needs or issues Char might be struggling with. Last year she came in at the end of the year and all the sudden Char’s reading really began to click. This year I hope to see that continue, as well as believe it will help with processing math, as her conceptual auditory skills for math have not caught up yet.)
Hearing Technology Equipment
Charlotte wears a cochlear implant on her left ear and a Resound hearing aid on her right ear. We call them her "special ears."
Her hearing aid, a ReSound 3D, is new this summer and streams Apple technology (iPhones and iPads) sound directly to her hearing aid, so no headphones are needed.
Opening up her new Micro Mic that goes with her ReSound hearing aid
She has adjusted very well to it, but I must admit I've been very reluctant this summer in letting her play with the iPad, so this will be new for school.
That said, I'm super excited about it (as is she!) because the earphones last year hurt her head and I think were very ineffective. I will test connecting with the iPad today and come in at some time convenient for you, Ms. Rogers, to work with the you and Charlotte on connecting school iPads to her hearing aid. (*Note: Ms. Rogers is Charlotte’s first grade teacher at Maybeury Elementary. We are so excited for another great year at the cutest school ever!)
At this time, her cochlear implant doesn't connect wirelessly, but that will change soon, as she was approved for an upgrade to the Nucleus 7 and we are awaiting it to be mapped by the audiologist (aka: programmed for her specific brain and listening). That appointment is scheduled for the end of September.
Up until this summer, her previous hearing aid was a pediatric style with flashing lights for cuing of needs to adults. This new aid is an adult aid and has no lights, so she is really empowered to manage it herself. She has also just learned how to put it in by herself, with the use of a mirror (this was a BIG deal!).
Common Hearing Aid Problems/ Solutions:
The battery dies, and she can no longer hear through her aid. Charlotte will have extra batteries in her back pack, and I will send some in for Ashley to keep in the clinic, too. She keeps a little plastic box in her backpack with the spare batteries, an old ear mold and some note about her hearing things.
Since her hearing aid does not have lights, I will also include a hearing tube in it this year, that could give you or Nurse Ashley access to hear if any sound it coming through.
I do not expect any of you to have to problem solve much past popping in a new battery, but just in case... She knows how the battery door opens and can put the battery in, but sometimes she has put it in upside down and it doesn't work - so I tend to do this for her still.
When the battery door is open, the hearing aid is off. When it closes, she hears a chime letting her know it works and is on. You can hear this through the listening tube, if you'd like to check it after replacing a battery.
Always feel free to text me if you need me to come help with her hearing equipment
As I mentioned at open house, I think we won’t use the Micro Mic this year - but am open to try it, if you want to, Ms. Rogers.
As for her left side with the cochlear implant, this is her "favorite ear."
Now that she is older, she has told me she hears better with it. This was one of those amazing moments for as a parent who chose this hearing path for her deaf child which included surgery... to hear they prefer the cochlear implant - it's amazing. She has also been very vocal about me getting her ears on her as fast as possible in the morning. She has started doing this herself, but I still have to help her brush her hair and she hates being without access to sound for any period of time.
Her current Nucleus 6 is from 2014. It is dying and her battery life is iffy. I will send in a backup batter for this, as well. Hopefully when she gets her new N7, this will be no problem and her new battery will last all day.
The lights flashing mean:
The part she wears behind her ear flashes orange slowly when the battery has been connected and it is functional
When the processor is connected to her implant, the part behind her ear flashes green and flashing changes speed depending on how the device is taking in sound. (Don't worry about the speed, but know: Green = good!)
When her CI battery begins to die, she will hear a bell chime. No one but Charlotte can hear this, but she is very aware and will tell you the battery is dying and she needs a new one.
She has learned to replace the battery herself. Please make sure the dead one goes into the plastic box and returns home with her for recharging.
Once we get the upgrade active, I can also come in and help figure out the bluetooth connect for the iPad
How does she not loose her hearing equipment?
Her cochlear implant and hearing aid are connected by a laniard. Honestly, this is the most annoying part these days, but I'm still nervous she may loose them without it. The cochlear implant falls off sometimes due to her running and playing and she will just grab the laniard and pop it back on her head. The hearing aid falls off less, as it is snug in her ear, but once in a while someone will snag the laniard and pull it out.
She's extremely patient with all this hearing equipment, but lately we have definitely started to get "I wish I had normal ears like you all," comments.
It's heartbreaking, yet I've tried to be very clear with her what an amazing thing that she has special ears and can hear and talk and sing. She still doesn't quite get that she'd be communicating with sign language without them and how isolating and limiting that could be, but one day she will.
She's a trooper and her kindergarten year was amazing. She truly boomed socially in a way that was magical. Until last year, her peers really still had a hard time understanding her, as her speech was delayed and articulation poor.
I know we all will be an amazing team for Charlotte. And that each of us will learn so much from her, too!
A little info about her new hearing aid from the ReSound website:
Connectivity - just like wireless stereo headphones
ReSound ENZO 3D turns your hearing aids into wireless headphones, making it easy to talk on the phone. Even in a noisy environment, you’ll hear with remarkable clarity. Whether you’re watching your favorite video, listening to music, or talking on the phone, ReSound ENZO 3D lets you stream the sound directly to your hearing aids.
ReSound ENZO 3D is the only Made for Apple® hearing aid for people with severe-to-profound hearing loss (Android users can stream with the ReSound Phone Clip+).
That means that if you have an iPhone®, iPad®, or iPod touch®, ReSound ENZO 3D requires no accessories to stream sound right to your hearing aid.
70% speech improvement
Use FaceTime® video calls with ReSound ENZO 3D and experience 70% improvement in speech compared to audio only phoning.
Click to visit the website and access the PDFs