May 2013 – Hearing Elmo

Deaf Children: Coping with Hearing Loss

Published on May 20, 2013 by hearingelmo1 Comment

Hearing Elmo welcomes guest blogger, John O’Connor. John shares that hearing loss has been an important topic as his own father has hearing loss. He explains, “I feel that there is a general lack of understanding around the issue of hearing loss and it is our job, or my job as someone who is close to the issue, to try and spread awareness when possible. Many people think that hearing loss only affects adults or elders. Since it is Better Hearing and Speech Month I thought it would be fitting to inform people on how hearing loss can affect anyone, even children.”

Hearing is essential for learning and communicating with others. Statistics show that two out of every 100 children have some degree of hearing loss. If kids cannot hear the world around them, they may experience delayed speech, language, academic and social development. What causes hearing loss, and how can deaf children overcome this obstacle?

Causes and Treatments

Early detection is the most important aspect of hearing loss treatment. Babies who are diagnosed with deafness before six months of age have a chance for better speech-language development. Older children who have a risk of hearing loss should be screened regularly. The earlier treatment begins; the sooner children can reach their full potential.

Most deaf children lose their hearing due to infections, genetic conditions, injuries or noise exposure amongst other reasons. Doctors use various diagnostic tools to test hearing in children. They often use behavior techniques to determine the type and degree of impairment.

Medicine or surgery can treat some types of hearing loss. Other types are best treated with hearing aids and speech-language devices. Children with profound deafness may benefit from cochlear implants.

Hearing Loss and Bullying

Some people consider children with hearing loss to be different in some way. Hearing aids and cochlear implants add to this perception. According to a “Boston Globe” report, a Swedish study found that one in five deaf children are victims of bullying. Those who are bullied often suffer from low self-confidence and self-esteem.

It is important for parents and school systems to support and protect hearing impaired children. These children need to know that there is nothing wrong with them. While their deafness poses definite challenges, it also presents an opportunity to overcome the challenges and succeed in their efforts to reach their goals and dreams.

Influential Deaf People

Deaf children have hopes and dreams just like all children. It is not impossible to make those dreams a reality. Just ask Nick Hamilton and Marlee Matlin.

Nick Hamilton did not let his hearing loss get in the way of his baseball career. Deaf since the age of three, Hamilton has turned to surgeries and hearing aids to help him cope with his deafness. In college, he became a star baseball player for Kent State. He now plays ball for the Cleveland Indians. He wears hearing aids on and off the field.

Marlee Matlin was almost completely deaf before her second birthday. The award-winning actress never let her disability interfere with her acting career. With the support of her family, she overcame her hearing loss challenges to become a well-known, working actress. In 1986, she won an Academy Award for her role in “Children of a Lesser God.”

Hearing loss can be a tough situation to deal with, but with the love and support of family and friends and a little belief anything is possible. Many people famous or not have taken it amongst themselves to beat hearing loss and have gone on to pursue their passions in life. Don’t let hearing loss stop you!

Hi my name is John O’Connor, I am a father, outdoorsman, sports enthusiast and passionate about living a healthy lifestyle. Check out my new blog at bloggingwjohno.blogspot.com!

Team Chatter

Published on May 14, 2013May 14, 2013 by hearingelmo5 Comments

In public, I talk to Chloe constantly. May 4th I learned what this is called... — In public, I talk to Chloe constantly. May 4th I learned what this is called…

Photo by Julie Wu, volunteer and therapy dog handler for Fidos For Freedom, Inc.

A trainer exited Pi’s Deli behind me and said, “Great team chatter”.

I’m always so eloquent. I responded, “Ummmmm”, with a questioning look that spoke volumes.

Fidos For Freedom’s trainers have had a LOT of practice and experience with people with hearing loss. She rephrased. “Good communication with your dog”.

Oh.

When I hear a “new for me” phrase, I am often scrambling to catch up to the conversation as I work to interpret the meaning. Having been partnered with Chloe since 2007, I think I can safely say I’m a veteran team. That doesn’t mean that I don’t still learn new things, however. Phrases like “team chatter” may be heard, but not understood until I spend a few minutes pondering it.

What does it mean?

Team chatter is important in a service dog team for two primary reasons. Team chatter keeps your dog’s attention on YOU if you use their name a great deal and talk to them. A second reason, however, is that service dogs need to know when they are doing something right! The tone and certain words connect with them.

This trainer may not have put two and two together like I did when preparing for this post. But the trainers use team chatter as well. When I did something right, this trainer told me so. If something needed polishing, she would tell me. She gave feedback throughout the certification segment we were doing that morning. She is a trainer and I am a client. However, we too, are a team. We are co-volunteers – even teammates in an organization we both love. Fidos For Freedom, Inc. (see http://www.fidosforfreedom.org/ for more information).

Why People with Invisible Disabilities Need Team Chatter

In psychology we use the phrase, words of affirmation, to explain the inherent need we have to receive “high 5’s” literally and figuratively.

Paul Hulijich explains, “The mind is very powerful, and it needs to be spoken to. We are all aware of the power of being told, for example, that we look well; it often immediately evokes the feeling of being well. We are influenced by what people say to us” (Hulijich, 2012, para. 3). Since I have had to learn to do a great number of things “differently”, it means a lot to me when a trainer, friend, or family member tell me that I handled something well.

At my daughter's college graduation, May 11, 2013. — At my daughter’s college graduation, May 11, 2013.

My husband praised me for how I chose to ascend and descend a number of steps in various arenas this last weekend. Even with Chloe in a close “heel”, I’m just not safe on steps in large cavernous – or open air – places. I didn’t make a big deal about it, only reminding Terry, my husband to either stand immediately in front of me, or behind me. Placing a hand on his shoulder is all I need to keep from falling when going down steps. Going up is a little trickier, but we still have a well-rehearsed plan. He told me, “You use steps with a lot more confidence now. You don’t even miss a beat”.

I don’t know about YOU, but it means a lot when someone notices what was once trial and error, becomes a well-polished, good habit. I need affirmation when I’m told that I pick up cues about my volume better. It means a lot when someone notices that I grin and advocate when having a near miss in a crowded hallway, and make it a learning opportunity.

One day last week, Chloe did not accompany me to work as she wasn’t feeling well. (She has chronic early morning acid reflux). I only had two classes that day and so opted to let her stay home with my husband since he was off. Just like any normal day, I dropped a number of things in the classroom. One student watched with wide eyes as I braced myself against a desk and used my foot to pick up a stack of quiz sheets with a rubber-band around them. “Oh my gosh, you do that without even thinking about it! You live YOU very well!”

I blushed but also BEAMED at the impromptu praise. What Greg said, echoed the beat of my heart. This is what I want – to live ME very well.

We Can Use Team Chatter too!

Do you have a hearing loss? Do you live with a balance disorder? Have you learned to navigate life with low vision? Do you have a chronic or invisible illness? Whether you are new to “the new you”, or a veteran, there are people around you who could use some team chatter.

I know, I know! It may not always seem as if they are ON YOUR TEAM, but there are still co-workers, friends, and family members who could benefit from being told when they are doing something RIGHT.

Sarah, a person with low vision, once asked me where her husband was. I pointed and said, “He’s right over there”. She reached up and grabbed my pointing arm and followed it with her hand in the direction I was pointing. Off she went in the RIGHT direction, leaving me pondering my own OOPS. After that, I did much better about responding with phrases like, “at your 9′ o’clock”; or, “over your left shoulder about 25 feet away”.

She noticed. “Denise, you do a great job at giving me directional assistance. It really helps!” I’ve tried to remember to do the same for the folks in my life.

“Thanks for re-phrasing that. I understood it perfectly the second time. You don’t even have to think about doing that for me now. Thanks!”

“I appreciate you habitually moving to allow me to stand next to the side when we get on the elevator. It really helps to have something to lean against”.

“Thanks for ignoring Chloe when we talk in the office. I know you love dogs, and because she knows you it can be hard to ignore that wag! It really helps me though, so thank you!”

As a person with both Meniere’s disease and hearing loss, I do a lot of reminding about what works well to assist me, and what does not. (This can be tricky because we don’t want to embarrass or offend someone!) Sometimes I feel like I’m constantly in “education mode”. Yet, we need to remember to tell folks around us when they get it right! It affirms what they do or say in interacting with us. Perhaps they even just need to hear that they “leave us be” in a healthy way! “Thank you for not assuming I needed help with that and waiting to see if I ASKED for help”.

I hope you will work to incorporate team chatter into your own relationships. Words of affirmation and open communication can be so important. Don’t assume others know when they are doing a good job. Let them know!

Hulijich, P. (2012). Affirmations. Psychology Today. Retrieved, May 12, 2012 from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mind-wellness-awareness/201211/affirmations

Denise Portis

Square Plates

Published on May 7, 2013 by hearingelmo2 Comments

Square plates. I WANT THEM.

Why are plates ROUND after all? Squares have such nice neat corners. It isn’t as if round plates hold more! Round plates are not any better at preventing food from escaping if you are an – erm – especially aggressive eater. Or, perhaps TWO-years-old!

I really want square plates. They are different. They accomplish the same purpose. Am I rebel? No, no… you see, my friends?

I’m a SQUARE. That’s right, you heard it first here at Hearing Elmo. (smile)

We May be the Same – But We’re NOT

I have met a lot of people with hearing loss and cochlear implants. We may all have hearing loss, but we are not the same. That is why our hearing aids and cochlear implants are programmed especially for our hearing health profile.

I have met many with Meniere’s disease. I may have the same diagnosis as you do of Meniere’s disease. That does not mean that we share the same triggers. It does not mean that what works to alleviate the severity of symptoms for YOU, will work the same for me.

Unfortunately, even though we may belong to the same community of people – those who live with some sort of invisible or chronic illness, those who are differently-abled, we forget that we are individuals. What works for one will not work as well for another.

There are three cochlear implant manufacturers. I love my cochlear implant. Neither I, nor my audiologist at Johns Hopkins, ever thought I would be hearing this well. My cochlear implant is not “better” than someone who chose another manufacturer, however. Consumers – the patients – have a responsibility to thoroughly investigate all the details about all of the brands available. We pick what we believe will work best for US.

Round plates and square plates do the same thing. They hold food. But some of us like round plates – and some of us are SQUARES.

It always grieves me when I see posts at various online support groups where one member bashes the ideas of another. Or perhaps they are insistent that everyone try their extremely low-salt diet (which happened on a Meniere’s group of which I am a member). It didn’t matter that several of us explained we had tried low sodium a number of times and had found it made little difference.

We need to respect other people’s choice to use round plates – or square ones. In the hearing loss community, our mantra should be “whatever works”. In groups that formed to support those living with Meniere’s disease, we should work on actually BEING supportive. If WE aren’t supportive of each other, how can we ever expect the community at large to be?

Are you a member of a support group for your own illness or disability? Encourage others to be supportive and open to new ideas. Everyone just might learn something! Regardless, we need the non-judgmental atmosphere of a friendly, empathetic community. Respect each other. Before you know it you just might start seeing :