What it Takes from Families in Order to Develop Spoken Language in Children with Hearing Loss

• Pursuit of Best Amplification
  This may mean more frequent trips to the audiologist than parents who choose a
  different approach.
  
• Weekly Parent/Caregiver Participation Sessions Taught by Trained Professional*
  Approximately 1 hour weekly. It is strongly recommended that the child’s primary
  caregiver participate in these sessions.
  
• Daily Individual Play Sessions with Child in a Quiet
  Minimum of 1 hour daily, preferably with the person participating in parent sessions.
  
• Embellishing Auditory Elements of Normal Caregiving & Play Activities
  3 to 4 hours daily, preferably with the person participating in parent sessions.
• Consistent Use of Behavior Management
  Children with a hearing loss need to develop discipline in order to be able to listen
  Effectively.
  
• Enrollment of Child in an Inclusive Setting with Typically Developing Hearing Peers
  This should be done when parents and teachers determine the child will have success.
  
  
  If these factors are in place and the child does not possess any other delays, it is most favorable that the child will make a year’s amount of progress (as measured by developmental language charts) in a year’s amount of time. If all these factors are not in place, it is most likely that child’s progress will take place at a slower rate.

My thoughts:

Doing all these things results in a year's amount of progress in a year's amount of time. UUGH! We have 2.5 years to make up - Brooke went 2.5 years without her hearing aids. I often get discouraged with all the time, work, effort, responsibility and tears that go into Brooke's therapy. I often feel that I am sacrificing my other children to give her the things she needs to make progress. I often get overwhelmed and stressed out. I often think I do not have the strength to do it all and that I am not good enough to give her what she needs.

And then I remember the Truth: she is God's daughter and so am I, God will give us all the strength we need; God is holding her in his arms...the same arms that created the Earth, the same arms that healed the blind, the same arms that hung on the cross for her. God will take care of her, no matter my strengths or my weaknesses. God will bless her with all she needs to grow in her love for God. What do I need to do? I need to pray. Brooke can make up the gap in her development; we get closer everyday with God's grace filling us both.