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The Kid is Losing his Hearing- what will they do?????Aug 19 '07 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Do all children deserve to hear their teachers?
I found out at the end of last school year that my son has moderate to severe high frequency hearing loss as a result of long term side effects from receiving a certain type of chemotherapy years earlier. When he had his first hearing test at school, which is done at the beginning of the school year he failed it. But guess what? No one ever told me about that. As a matter of fact, I asked the teachers about it shortly after the test was done and they told me that if the results are normal I won't get any information about it. So, I naturally thought the test results were normal. In April, the man that does the hearing tests called me to tell me my son failed the hearing test again, and he told me "Since he failed at the beginning of the school year, and also failed this time I need to advise you to take him to an audiologist." So, I was a little upset because I never knew he failed the hearing test at the beginning of the school year. But what's done is done, I need to deal with it now. So I took him to the audiologist, and she tested him and discovered that yes, he does in fact have moderate to severe high frequency hearing loss in both ears. She informed me that a hearing aid would not work for the type of hearing loss he has, but gave me a paper to bring the school so that we could try to get him an FM system for the classroom. With the type of hearing loss he has he is unable to block out background noise, so even the sound of a pencil tapping can interfere with what the teacher is saying to him in class. Also, with this type of hearing loss, he can't hear sounds like "ch", and "tr" and "sh" and blends, so that explains a lot of his problems in school. But the school board denied the request for an FM system, saying that basically he isn't yet deaf enough to be afforded the right to benefit as much from an education as a child with perfect hearing or a child with worse hearing. Did I word that right? Sorry, I'm upset. Over the summer months I've noticed him saying "what" a lot to things, even if I get right in his face and speak very clearly. He has been turning the television up very loud, and I make him turn it down each time, but he says he can't hear the show. So, I have made arrangements for another audiologist visit, and when I met his new teachers at the recent orientation (they are aware of the hearing loss), I told them that I believe the hearing is getting worse. They said they want to get him the FM system but the school board won't allow it until he is worse off, and all they could do is basically sit him in the front of the class. Sitting him in front is a start, but if he can't block out background noise it doesn't really matter where he sits. The guidance counselor already gave the new teachers a memo stating that he will not get an FM system because the school board can not (or claims that they can not) afford an FM system for a child with moderate to severe hearing loss, it has to be severe and above (according to the scale they use). The audiologist and his doctor both told me that there are probably a lot of children out there with high frequency hearing loss that are going undiagnosed, and sometimes it is confused with ADD. It is really frustrating that first we have to deal with that stupid cancer, and than we have to deal with a relapse, and than we finally think it's over when this comes along. Hearing loss is a small thing compared to what could've happened, but it is still frustrating. The school nurse (who was actually the first nurse that ever took care of him when he was in the hospital at seven months old with cancer) told me that I should talk to a lawyer to push for the FM system because if a doctor says I need it, they have to provide it for him. I was thinking about making an appointment to have a meeting with the guidance counselor after we get the next test results back, and maybe even have a word with the principal (even though over the last three years my son has been at the school she has proven to be worthless- that's a whole other story). I certainly can't afford an attorney, and I just don't want it to come to that. Rate me poorly if you want- I just had to get this off my chest.  |
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