My story begins in March of 2002. Returning home from a holiday to celebrate our first wedding anniversary, I dropped by the chemist to pick up a pregnancy test. I was pregnant! Now expecting our first child, my husband and I were elated!
The next nine months were filled with excited planning and dreams of the little one that was rapidly growing in my belly. Perhaps the most exciting pregnancy milestone was the first time I felt the baby kick.
‘Birth-day’ arrived and we welcomed a beautiful healthy baby girl into the world.
My little angel was absolutely perfect in every way!
Hearing services are not a priority in developing countries
Unfortunately, there was no newborn screening program in the national health system in the country we lived in at the time. Luckily, my little girl responded to very soft sounds from as little as 2 weeks old, but there are thousands of children globally waiting to be treated and discover the world beyond the silence.
I recently had an opportunity to visit Samoa as part of my job, and engaged a consultant team to explore the feasibility of providing a hearing services program in Samoa.
It was devastating. Hearing services is not their priority, and the Deaf community was not part of the conversation as they still cannot express their ideas.
It’s hard to think that the children I met will not get a second chance.
Children learn to communicate by imitating the sounds they hear
If a child has a hearing loss that goes undetected and untreated, they miss much of the speech and language around them. This results in delayed speech and language development, and also causes social and emotional problems and academic difficulties.
In Australia, between 9 and 12 children per 10,000 will be born with a moderate or greater hearing loss in both ears. By the age of 17, around another 23 children per 10,000 will acquire a hearing impairment that requires hearing aids through accident, illness or other cause.
The most effective treatment for hearing loss is achieved through early intervention
Early diagnosis, early fitting of hearing aids, and an early start on special education programs can help maximize a child’s hearing. This will give your child the best chances for successful speech and language development. Remember that hearing loss can develop at any age, either permanently or temporarily, and it can be a symptom of other conditions.
If you think that your child has difficulties with language development, learning, or attention, it’s important to seek the advice of an audiologist.
Blamey Saunders Audiometrist Chamini Sedara was inspired to enter the field of hearing after the child of a family member was born with hearing loss. She believes hearing plays a vital role in maintaining relationships and in making important decisions.