Speech Learning Tools from Cochlear.com

i've been meaning to share this but kept on forgetting.

On last speech and audio discussion, Dr. Basya and Pn. Izzati suggested i view and print this printable module from Cochlear website. It has week by week activities to be carried out with your hearing impaired child. It's like a guide for doing your own speech therapy session at home.

i, of course did not know this exist and never thought of going to Cochlear website because Afif is not a CI boy. But Dr. Basya said it's okay because it's the speech lesson that matters, regardless of the baby using hearingaids or CI.

There's so many steps to get to this page so i'll just give you the link:

http://hope.cochlearamericas.com/listening-tools

Depending on your baby's hearing age, you can choose the module for babies or for toddler. Though Afif is a toddler, his hearing age is 8 months so i chose to work with Sound Foundation for Babies module. 

There are week by week module. As Afif has been wearing HA for more than 8 months, i did not start on module 1 for him. Choosing which week to start on was a bit tricky for me as week 36 module looks too advanced for him. In the end, i went through almost all of the module and decided to print week 15 onwards. Even with that, there's a few things in those module that Afif has not mastered and a few other things that he has mastered. So evaluate your child's speech and hearing and start the module according to that.

i wish i knew about this modules when he started wearing the HA. It'd be way easier for us. Anyhow, what's done is done. We'll have to work hard.

Sound Foundation for Babies: for the first 12 months of aided hearing

Sound Foundation for Toddlers: for the first second year of aided hearing

For convenience, i have saved the link under the "Informative Links on Hearing Loss in Children" tab on the right side of this blog.

 

Afif's printed module.

i put it in clear pocket by week.

A Sense of Belonging

As a hearing mother of a deaf child, i have always felt lost. I've always felt like i'm stuck, having no one to talk to, no one to ask, not knowing anyone who has been in the same shoes as i am. Any questions i have had always been directed to Afif's speech therapist, audiologists and Mr. Google. They have been so helpful but there's always this void, you know? i wanna know i'm not alone in this.

So i went on like that.

Until one fine Saturday morning, i attended a playgroup organized by Klinik Audiologi UKM. Though without my husband (who had to work), i learnt so much and finally met other parents and their deaf kids. We talked, had sharing session, and listened to a beneficial presentation by Dr. Basha while the kids are well taken care of by the facilitators.

Sadly, we rushed home as Afif has gotten cranky. i didn't get to swap numbers with any of the moms. Memang sedih la tak sempat tukar-tukar nombo phone dengan ibu-ibu yang lain.

Lucky for me, i bumped into Su while going for Afif's MRI follow up at HUKM. Su is Naurah's mother (a 2year-old hearing impaired girl) who i met during the playgroup. We talked for a while, swapped numbers and the next thing i know, i'm invited into this Telegram chat group.

*Telegram: application on the smartphone for chatting. (macam Whatsapp jugak)

Ya Allah. Bersyukur sangat di-invite dalam group ni. 

There are around 50 mothers (and the numbers are expanding) of hard of hearing children. Ada yang senior, contohnya Kak Ziba yang anaknya pakai HA, speaks well and masuk sekolah rendah biasa. Ada jugak mak-mak newbie macam aku and Su yang anak kecil lagi.. Ada yang pakai HA, CI and bone.. Ada yang dari KL, Kuantan, Kelantan, Sepang.. Setiap hari ade je topik diborak; children's development, cara terapi kat rumah, buku mana yang best, menu harian, etc.. When any of us has any questions, the others will try their best to answer. Even if sometimes i don't get a definite answer, i'm still so happy to know their experience.

Finally i don't feel like the only mother of a deaf child anymore. 

If any of you readers are a mother of a deaf child, contact me and in sha Allah, you'll be invited into this chat group too. You're not alone in this.

:)

New Friend

The past week has been a bit of emotional whirlwind for me.

Having blessed with a hearing impaired child, i'm never at ease. Most days are fine. Some days i'm in despair, panic attack, guilt.. i worry a lot. i have so many questions.

When will Afif talk?
What if Afif can't talk?
Will his future be okay?
Can he make friends?
Can he go to normal school?

More questions than i (or even his therapist) could answer.

The hardest thing is not having or knowing anyone else that have the same experience.

i missed Afif's last speech therapy because i had to present in a meeting. i never missed it and God did i feel guilty. Mr. Chenta took him for therapy and he is amazing but you know it's different when you are not there.

Because i'm such a control freak, i emailed his therapist. i can't rest not getting information first hand. Asking this and that. i hope she doesn't find me too bossy and nosey. My prayer has been answered when she gave me a contact number of a mom with a hearing impaired daughter.

It's just what i need.

Someone who was there, went through what i go through.
Someone who can share what she did. How she did it.
Someone who understands.

We got in touch recently. Alhamdulillah for this new friend.

She said it ain't easy.
She took time off work in the critical years.
She went for seminars/talks/classes. She sent the daughter (who was 2-4 years at that time) to music class, writing class, and various therapies.
She put of having another baby until the daughter is 6 years old.
But now, she said, it's worth it. The daughter is 7 years old and speaking and hearing well.

i'm so amazed at her effort.
i never thought of music class nor writing class for Afif (for God's sake, he's not even 2!)
i never went for talks/seminars/playgroup. Not because i don't want to, because i couldn't find one.
Though i wanted to go someplace else for therapy, i never made the move.

This new info is both a relief and a curse.
Because i feel like i'm not doing enough for my son.

Oh well.
What the use of dwelling.
Now that i know, i'll do a better job.

Must. Find. Music. Class. ASAP.
Must. Find. A. Talk/Seminar. ASAP.

Toddler Activity: Bathroom Painting

Ok so Afif loves the iPad. i came to realize that after two mornings of him getting up and out of bed and point the iPad at me. Now before you bash me, don't worry. It's not an addiction yet. Setakat ni tak pernah la lagi dia mengamuk tantrum kalo tak dapat. Phew phew..

But yaa.. Of course we have to plan stuff for him to vary his activities. Mainan banyak tapi kejap-kejap main dia bosan. Dia suka main air, aku layan la jugak kat toilet tapi susah sebab takot basah hearing aid dia. Main hide and seek pon layan. Dia layan gak crayon, pencil color and magic color tapi lelama dia ada idea conteng dinding plak (-____-) so i minimize his contact with those.

i got him this Crayola Washable Kids' Paint a few weeks ago. The first time we painted was one rainy day after he got up from his afternoon nap. Kononnya fun activity. Tapi time tu dia cranky, dia conteng sekali dua je pastu marah aku cat tapak tangan dia pastu we wrap up. So much for being artsy.

The supplies for painting activities.

 End product

Cranky kene paksa melukis

Then yesterday i had this bright idea of combining his favorite place, the toilet, and some art stuff. Maka terjadi lah bathroom painting!

Bangon pagi dan brekpes, i stripped him down. Ingatkan nak mandi la tuh. He got excited pon seeing the paint i laid on the stool in the bathroom. Then i started painting the house and tree, he followed suit. But of course, no house, tree or even stick figures from him yet. Conteng-conteng ikot suka je.

Muka puas hati main conteng-conteng

Our masterpiece.

He was so happy experimenting siap cover toilet bowl pon dia conteng. i think this activity is good to train our baby's motor skill and also to teach them colors. i even mix a few colors together to create a new color for example blue+yellow=green!

The best part is this Crayola Paint is totally washable. After our painting session, simbah air kat dinding tiles tu and gosok sikit-sikit pakai tangan je terus hilang color tu. No mess for lazy moms like me.

p/s: malam tu dia amek pencil color dan conteng dinding rumah while i was busy in the kitchen. Laki aku gelak je "siapa suruh ajar conteng toilet?" katanya. Haihhh..