My child has hearing loss. What next?

When you know your child has hearing loss

Parents usually have many questions when they realise their child has hearing loss. You may wonder how this happened, why it happened, and how it will affect their lives. Will he be able to hear when I sing to him? Will he have friends? Can he attend mainstream school in time to come? What will his future hold? And, along with all these, what should I do? How best can I as a parent manage?

One of the reassuring surprises for most parents is that yes, their child will babble, respond, laugh, explore and do things like any other child. The child just needs a little more care, encouragement and attention.

Another pleasant surprise in store is the extensive support network already in place for you and your child. There are public and private organisations and schools whose goal is to cater to the needs of children with hearing loss. Besides, they aim to educate and support the child and parents as well.

Furthermore, with the advances in auditory technologies, hearing aids and cochlear implants help maximise the child’s residual hearing so he can hear you sing and laugh.

What are my child’s possible educational paths?

The Little Hands Bilingual-Bicultural Programme (LHBBP)

The curriculum allows children with hearing loss to explore their environment and the activities at a level appropriate to their cognitive and learning development levels. It also provides a linguistic environment for children to develop their linguistic skills in Singapore Sign Language and English.

Itinerant Support Service (ISS)

Support students with hearing loss in mainstream schools and promote integration by equipping students, families and schools with strategies and advocacy skills to cope with hearing loss through its 3 core services:

1. Case Management & Counselling

2. Learning Support

3. Speech & Language Therapy

Community Services (CS)

Serves Deaf and Hard-of-hearing clients and their families in various areas such as counselling, financial assistance and employment support.

Hearing Care Centre (HCC)

Provides a full spectrum of hearing care-related services. The HCC aims to assist in preserving the residual hearing of people with hearing loss and develop

auditory processing ability through appropriate means; and provide affordable or free quality hearing

care services to all clients of SADeaf. Besides hearing tests and consultations, clients and members can

also obtain ear moulds made as well as purchase batteries and other accessories at discounted rates.

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