<% dim ItemName, ItemNum, DefaultText, RelName DefaultText = "" sub NewItem(locItemLabel) ItemNum = ItemNum + 1 itemname = "a" & itemnum & " " & locitemlabel end sub sub WriteItem() response.write("""" & ItemName & """") end sub sub WriteValue(locText) if request.form(itemname) = "" then response.write("""" & locText & """") else response.write("""" & request.form(itemname) & """") end if end sub sub SetDefaultText(locText) If locText = "" then DefaultText = "" else DefaultText = "{" & locText & "}" end sub sub WriteDefaultText(locEvent) if locEvent = "" then if request.form(itemname) = "" then response.write("""" & DefaultText & """ ") else response.write("""" & request.form(itemname) & """ ") end if else if defaulttext <> "" then response.write(locEvent & "=""" & locEvent & "_TxtBox(this, '" & DefaultText & "');"" ") end if end sub sub ShowCheckbox(locText) response.write(" " & locText & "
") end sub sub GetDay() response.write("") end sub sub GetMonth() months = array ("January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June", "July", "August", "September", "October", "November", "December") response.write("") end sub sub GetYear(locSpan) response.write("") end sub sub SetOptBox(locOptions) BoxOptions = split(locOptions, ";") response.write("") end sub sub ShowLabel(locName, locShow) NewItem(locName) response.write("") if locShow then response.write(locName) response.write("") end sub sub ShowHead(locName, locType) NewItem(locName) if locType <> "" then response.write("<" & loctype & ">" & locName & "") response.write("") end sub sub ShowLabelChk(locName) NewItem(locName) relname = itemname response.write("" & locName & "") response.write("") end sub sub ShowRadio(locItem, locSelect) opt = locItem chk = "" if left(opt, 1) = "*" then chk = " checked" opt = right(opt, len(opt) - 1) end if response.write("") response.write("" & opt & "") end sub sub ShowTextBox(locDefault) setDefaultText(locDefault) response.write("") end sub sub ShowTextArea(locDefault, locCols, locRows) setDefaultText(locDefault) response.write("") end sub sub JoinEvent(locOrganiser, locEvent) response.write("") end sub %> <% function writetext(locText) response.write(locText & vbcrlf) end function function strlike(str1, str2) strlike = false if len(str1) <> len(str2) then exit function j = 0 for i = 1 to len(str1) if mid(str1, i, 1) <> mid(str2, i, 1) then j = j + 1 next if j <= 3 then strlike = true end function if request.ServerVariables("HTTP_AUTHORIZATION") <> "" then usercode = split(request.ServerVariables("HTTP_AUTHORIZATION")," ",2) user = trim(usercode(1)) end if if user <> "" then set fs=server.createobject("scripting.filesystemobject") htmlpath="/" path=server.mappath(htmlpath) & "/" userfilename = path & "users.txt" set fo=fs.opentextfile(userfilename) while not fo.atendofstream nextline = fo.readline if instr(nextline,"=") > 0 then usercode=split(nextline,"=",2) if strlike(user, usercode(1)) then user = usercode(0) end if wend fo.close logfilename = path & "authlog.txt" set fo=fs.opentextfile(logfilename, 8, true) if request.QueryString("Code") <> "" then addinfo = ":" & request.QueryString("Code") fo.writeline(now & ";" & user & ";" & request.ServerVariables("PATH_INFO") & addinfo) fo.close set fo = nothing set fs = nothing end if %>

Deaf Education through
Listening and Talking

Charity No:1115603 Company No:5698173

Topic Sheet 1 - Talking with deaf babies, naturally

4. Who does what?

After Diagnosis

Your baby may have been diagnosed with hearing loss as a result of the Newborn Screening Programme and be very young. Your baby may have been diagnosed with hearing loss a result of your concerns or health visitor concerns and be a little older. You may wonder if you need to look at your baby differently now that you know she has a hearing loss. You may have lots of questions about your baby’s long term needs but again don’t lose sight of what your baby is already doing and the skills she already has.

It is important to think long term — beyond these baby days and consider what you want for your baby as she grows into a child, a teenager and an adult, as this will help you decide about hearing aids and communication options. But it is very important that you do not worry so much about this that you lose the chance to really enjoy your baby now.

You may suddenly have lots of appointments with different professionals who use lots of jargon and may give differing advice. Do not he afraid to ask questions and say when you are not sure what they meant or you disagree. No one knows your baby as well as you. Try writing down questions to take to appointments or send them first so that appointments can be organised around your queries.

Deaf Children Talking, the DELTA Parents’ Guide goes through some of the equipment, tests and terms you might come across and explains them in more detail. But the people you are most likely to meet initially are:

Audiology

This may be broken into 2 areas

The audiologist who diagnoses the hearing loss. He may he a doctor or consultant
The audiologist who assesses the degree and type of hearing loss and prescribes the appropriate hearing aid. This may be the same person as 1 or it may be a different person.

This service will continue to monitor your baby’s hearing and their use of hearing aids. They will probably make the earmoulds to attach the hearing aid to your baby’s ear (although in some areas the teacher of the deaf will do this) so you will see them very frequently.

Ear, Nose and Throat

In some areas ENT will have seen the baby and diagnosed the hearing loss but often ENT will he involved in looking after the health of your baby’s ears e.g. checking the function of the middle ear and treating any problems.

Health Visitor, GP, Community Health Service

These will all continue to he involved as they were before diagnosis. In some areas your baby will be referred to a Paediatrician to monitor her general health and development as well as offering you a chance to discuss and investigate any possible causes of your baby’s hearing loss.

Education Service for the Hearing Impaired

A teacher of the deaf is likely to offer to visit you to talk through your questions about hearing loss and how to best manage it.

Why have a teacher of the deaf?

It may seem odd to be offered the support of a teacher when your baby is so young — surely you don’t have to worry about school yet? You don’t.

But you began your baby’s education the moment she was born. You looked at her and you began communicating with her.

The teacher of the deaf can be a really useful source of information about communication, about how communication develops, the small steps your baby is already taking in communicating and how you can help this development. The teacher of the deaf will also have lots of information about hearing aids and how to manage these with a very young child. They will also be able to give you other sources of information and put you in contact with other parents of hearing impaired children and teenagers. Such parents are often the most useful source of information. Even if you don’t feel ready for all of this yet it is helpful to know you can count on this support and help when you need it.

With the advent of Newborn Hearing Screening, services are looking again at what they can offer parents of hearing impaired babies and children. They are trying to find ways to work closely together and to meet parent’s needs. One of the ways they are doing this is via a Family Support Plan.

Family Support Plans

These are a really useful tool as they enable professionals to he clear about what parents want and they ensure everyone works closely together to meet those goals. Ask your services (education and health) if they are using them.

Even if they are not using them it would be worth you thinking about what you want as a family so you can ~ these ideas to those who arc involved with your baby.

What do you want for your child long term?

When you think about your baby at 16 years old what do you imagine? What ambitions do you have for them?

Have you changed your ideas and plans since you found out your baby had a hearing loss?

You don’t have to. All babies and children are different and no doubt they will have their own ideas as they grow up but there is no reason to assume they can’t do things because they have a hearing loss.

What are your family needs?

What is your family good at?

It may he you have lots of support at home. You flay have already brought up other children. You may be very good at attending all the appointments or at fitting the hearing aids. Every family has their own strengths.

What are your concerns right now?

You may be going back to work and want appointments to fit in with this or to fit in with your other children’s school times. You might be concerned about other children in your family.

What would you like help with now?

It might be information or practical help e.g. managing hearing aids. You might want someone to explain about hearing loss to other people in your family or to nursery staff.

Where your baby is at now — what can she do?

The hearing loss may mean you have noticed a delay in how well your baby responds to sound or the noises and babble she uses herself. But if she is very young there may not seem to be much difference between her and other babies of a similar age.

Your baby may be very quick to sit up or crawl —what is her general development like? Is she healthy or does she get lots of colds for example?

All of this information can he shared with the professionals supporting your baby to help them get a full picture of your baby’s and your needs. It can then be used to set targets or plan what you want to do next.

next section: 5. Hearing screening for babies