Skip to main content

Can you hear me now?

We as teachers talk a lot about the curriculum, the tricks to get students to do what we want them to do, and how to have an enjoyable time.  But what about when it all hits home?  The topic of hearing is something that I take very seriously for myself, my family, and my students.  Why?

My son is hard of hearing.

Not deaf, not fully hearing, but hard of hearing and he's only 3.

That's right.  My 3 year old is hard of hearing and wears hearing aids and it was a long journey to get him to where he is today.  Let me give you a little bit of our background.

When my son was born they did all the normal tests they do in the hospital, one of which being a hearing test.  They tested his hearing probably 10 times over the course of 2 days and got no reading on him.  They told us sometimes babies can still have fluid in their ears and we made an appointment to come back in 2 weeks.  Still nothing.  So next was an audiologist.  The first couldn't get a good reading because he woke up during it and the second (which this is now day 3 in a row he's having this test done) said she got no reading and we'd check again in a month, but he may need an ABR (auditory brainstem response) so I scheduled one for 4 months away (the soonest I could get in).  He failed again and we went to the ENT (ear, nose, & throat doctor).  The ENT requested the ABR.  October comes and I get him to sleep on me and we conduct the test.  It takes about 3 hours to complete and at the end the audiologist looked and me and said he'd need hearing aids.  That he wasn't hearing everything he could and she wanted him to be able to hear everything.  I said okay and was welcomed to the world of EI (Early Intervention), an IFSP (basically an IEP but for a child under 3), and hearing aids that I would have to learn to take care of like they were attached to me.  In December, two days before Christmas he got his hearing aids.  You know those videos that make you cry over kids hearing their parents for the first time?  Yeah, that was us.  He could hear us so much more clearly now!  It was amazing.  He started hearing therapy and we later added speech therapy and speech group.  Those ladies worked tirelessly with our son to get him to keep his hearing aids in and to start signing and speaking.

Fast forward to him almost being 3.  Where we live students who are hard of hearing can start school the minute they turn 3.  His birthday was on a Sunday so we started him the day after his birthday.  He was great at school.  He hated leaving me in the mornings to get on the bus, which killed me, and if I was at school he screamed when I left.  Talk about gutting me.  But I knew he was getting the best care possible for his needs.  You see, my son does speak words, but very few.  He signs more than he speaks, so we as a family have adapted and we sign as well.  It makes communicating with him easier and less frustrating because he can tell us what he wants this way.

It's a practice I use in my classroom as well.  I try to ensure that my students are given every advantage they can get so that they are able to be successful in school.  This past school year I was purposely given a student when we came back from Christmas break even though I had the most students at the time in my grade level.  I met her, gave her a high-five, and took her to class with my secretary asking me to come back to talk to her when I had a free moment so I could get all of her info.  I said no problem and away we went.  I came back about 20 minutes later, during my prep, and that's when they said she was deliberately placed in my classroom.  She was deaf in one ear and they didn't know how to help her but thought I might.  I looked and it was something that had been noted in her records from when she was 4 years old until now at 11 years old.  She's been deaf in one ear for 7 years, had no IEP, and no accommodations other than being retained once, a volunteer tutor who worked with her, and preferential seating in the classroom.  I got the last two information pieces from her previous teacher for the semester before along with an email she got from our district audiologist and her suggestions.  I contacted her next and asked for an FM System, which meant I had to wear a mic and she wore a receiver and headphones all day so she could hear me better.  I also got her in Tier 3 and she's on the list to be tested for an IEP for her hearing loss.  What baffles me is that it took 7 years and 1 teacher to get her what she needed right away.  She went from an F student to A's and B's for the most part in my classroom.  It's amazing what can happen when you can hear your teacher more clearly.

I'm the kind of teacher that if I don't know the answers to something I ask.  If I do I go after what I need tirelessly so that my students are successful.  It doesn't matter what they come in with.  I make sure they leave me with all the tools they need to be successful in school and life. 

So can you hear me now?  Sometimes we are the greatest advocates for our students.  Use what you know to go after what they need.  It can help them is so many ways.

What's something you've done for a student before that has been beneficial for them?  What's something you've had to research so that you can help a student?  Let me know below so I can learn more as well!



Comments