You are their first teacher!

Information for parents of infants and young children with hearing impairment

Courtesy of the Bandung Ear Care Foundation, Indonesia

Introduction

Not so long ago, most infants born into silence found little hope of ever being able to play a full role in family and community life. Now, with early diagnosis and advances in hearing technology, it is possible for children who are deaf and hard of hearing to grow up in a rich sound environment, learning to listen, talk and succeed in their life. But this possibility cannot become reality unless families receive expert help and support as soon as their child's hearing loss is detected.

After having overcome the shock after knowing their child's condition, parents need help to overcome their despair, accept the condition and move forward in a positive way. Parents have to be aware that they have the potential to be the most effective teachers of their young deaf child, especially in the early pre-school years when most of the time the child is at home.

The John Tracy Clinic in Los Angeles USA (www.jtc.org ), has helped children with hearing loss and their parents from all over the world develop the skills and confidence they need, including through the on-line Distance learning Program for Parents. "You Are Their First Teacher" is a compilation of excerpts from the "John Tracy Correspondence Courses for Parents of Young Deaf Children". This small compilation can be used as first information for parents at the time the child is diagnosed. Anyone is welcome to translate, adapt and use this information for their own needs. We advise centers and clinics to put in a list of addresses and contacts of hearing clinics, rehabilitation centers, institutions, pre-schools and special schools for the deaf in their area, that can provide further assistance to the parents.

Your child needs to communicate

Communication is sharing information and feelings. Communications is always two ways, one is the listener, and one is the speaker. Your function as speaker is very important, but the function of the listener is also equally important. If you can be a good listener, you will also give your child the opportunity to be a good listener.

Hearing Aids cannot heal your child's deafness. This instrument only helps to amplify sound, which are human voices, as well as other sounds in the child's environment. It is important for you to know the limitations and the use of the hearing aids, so that it can function optimally. The role of the hearing aid depends on several factors, among others:

The grade of your child's hearing impairment
The age of starting to wear the hearing aid
The child's consistency to wear it the whole day
The sounds that are heard through the hearing aid

The first step to increase the child's hearing potential is by letting the child wear the hearing aid as long as possible. At first, three times fifteen minutes each day is enough. Then you have to leave it on for five minutes longer every time, until at the end the child wears it the whole day. You also have to make sure that the hearing aid is working well. One thing you have to remember, never force your child to wear the hearing aid, because, once he rejects it, it will be difficult to persuade the child.

If your child becomes a listener, your role is to always explain in words all the activities, and all happenings around him. The child needs a lot of repetitions, so they can understand and later pronounce it. Try to catch the child's attention. After that, give your response in form of spoken words accompanied by facial expressions, movements, signing as well as with the help of drawings.

If your child becomes the speaker, your role is to give attention to whatever the child "says", try hard to understand as much as possible what the child is trying to say, and give your response in the form of speech and actions. Herewith the child will feel that to communicate will be beneficial, and the child will be motivated to communicate even more.

When communicating, give the child a clear message. Facial expressions, pitch and intonation of voice, and your body movements will be a great help for your child. The child also needs approval and rewards, to increase understanding and learn to know the difference between good and bad. This will motivate the child even more.

Learning should be through all the senses, especially eyes, ears, and tactile sensation. Because of the shortcoming in hearing, the child has to learn to lip read, which means to read the words from the lip movements of the speaker. The child also needs to learn to listen to sounds and make maximal use of its hearing function. The function of tactile sensation through touch is to feel the vibrations of each sound or voice.

Important tips to help your hearing impaired child communicate:

make sure that your child always looks at your face when you talk
try to put your child's eyes at the same level with yours when you talk
talk in normal loudness, but close enough to the child (1 to 1,5 meters)
you should always try to face a light source
avoid any object that may hinder him to see the movements of your lips

Your child is part of the family

Just like other children, your child needs to feel the joy and safety to be part of your family. That is why you have to involve your child in all family activities. Make effort to always put your child close to any activity that is happening, so that your child can see and try to hear it.

It is very important that you never compare your child with other normal children. On the other hand, you have to try to understand and find small unique aspects of your child.

Please spend time with your child, to speak to your child in a calm surrounding. As you already know, a hearing aid's function is to amplify all sounds, and the most important sound that your child should hear is human voices, their own voice as well as other people's voices.

Make it a habit to always call your child's name to catch his attention. This will make your child understand that there is a connection between your presence and your efforts to catch their attention. It also makes the child understand that every person and also every object - as well as activity- have their own names.

Other sounds besides human voices, should also be recognized. This is very important so that the child is always aware about happenings around him, as well as to hear a warning for danger situations. Flutes, sirens, and the ringing of the phone are some of the noises that the child has to learn to recognize. If your child hears a sound, you have to take the child to the source, and explain. This will make the child understand and it will give meaning to all kinds of sounds around him.

Children's games and songs will enrich the child's hearing experience. Even when the child does not understand the meaning of the words, they will be attracted to the voice and they will try to imitate it. Language will be understood and remembered longer if it is obtained through experiences. Games, that are important in the child's life, is one of the most important tools to learn language.

Every day activities also can be an effective learning process, because these activities are usually always repeated. Among others, to make up the bed, have lunch, brush teeth, and so on. Always accompany these activities with your spoken words, so that the child will understand the connection between words and any of the activities. Automatically the child will learn speech and language.

Learning outside the house, like walking in the park or play at a playground, can become a good opportunity to prevent the child from being bored with lessons. Beside this, you should also introduce the child to rules and customs in the community. Rules in games, exercise, traffic etc, will give the child a broadening of understanding and teach the child to socialize according to their development.

Advise in rearing your hearing impaired child:

Be patient
A hearing impaired child needs more time and training to understand language through listening and lip-reading
Keep on trying
You should always repeat and point out to your child about whatever you are talking about
Praise
Your child needs a lot of support and enthusiasm in the learning process, so, always smile at the child
Positive thinking
You have to have confidence that your child can learn to communicate
Acceptance
Later, as the child grows older, you have to accept whatever your child communication method is preferred, or most appropriate according to the experts for the child, either the oral / audio-verbal communication, the sign language, or the total communication method. Remember, every child is unique, and the most important is that the child is happy, can communicate with whatever method, can learn, and is loved by you and the family