Volunteering: A Win for Everyone

Gabriel’s teacher called his parents in for a meeting. Mr. Michaels was concerned that Gabriel was starting to view himself as a victim. He explained to Gabriel’s parents that recently, when challenges came up in class, Gabriel would sigh and mutter that “its too hard for a kid with hearing loss anyway, what is the [...]

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Siblings: Our most enduring relationships!

I made a mistake*. In a previous post, I discussed siblings in the way that everyone always does: how to minimize feelings of jealousy and rivalry between brothers and sisters. But I was wrong in only focusing on that negative aspect of sibling relationships. Perhaps I am influenced by TV and other media where fighting [...]

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High Expectations and Realistic Situations: A New Motto

There is a very tender, delicate balancing act that parents of children with hearing loss find themselves in. It is really a fundamental issue that lies beneath the surface of so many of the other issues that come up parenting children with hearing loss – so lets address it head on: On the one hand [...]

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Understanding Your Teenager

Teri and Bob had been very involved in their daughter’s education and her life from the start. When they found out that their beautiful baby girl Emily (she is their second child) was deaf, it shook up their whole world. Teri took a leave of absence from her job in order to give Emily all [...]

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Helping TOO much isn’t really helpful

Robbie was almost 15 years old and was much bigger than his mother. She sat and read the paper while Robbie took part in a research program on children with cochlear implants. Robbie was the oldest child to participate – it was hard to call him a child, since he looked and acted so very [...]

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Starting Middle School or High School: Tips for Smooth Transitions

I realized it was a brave new world when my son, who is entering high school this September, told me that he’d like to put together a power point presentation for his new classmates to educate them about hearing loss! After 14 years, he has put me out of business! It used to be me, [...]

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Staying Safe on the Roads

The summer, when kids are out of school and sometimes off on their own, is a time to think again about safety. We call after our kids to “be careful” as they go out the door, but our kids with hearing loss need more specific instructions and training to stay safe in the big and [...]

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Coping with Device Failure

Josh had been using his cochlear implant for 9 ½ years when his device started to stop working and everything would just go silent for 5 minute spurts. The ENT told him that his cochlear implant was at the end of its “life.” He realized quickly that he would need surgery to remove the implant [...]

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