When Mary was 6 years old, she had surgery to repair a hole in her right eardrum. This however, has not seemed to be a problem over the years. Until now of course. Mary's school happens to be home to the Orange County Audiology Dept? So, in Sept. they tested Mary's hearing. She failed. We went to the Dr., he didn't see anything wrong, gave her ear drops just in case. October, retested, failed. Now I'm getting angry, because until she can pass the hearing test, her IEP is being delayed. The school psychologist won't even talk to her until she passes. We cannot apply for the McKay Scholarship without an updated IEP. I'm running out of time, the deadline is February. I was insistent that she was not passing the tests because of her inability to answer the questions correctly. Today, I went with Mary to the Audiology Dept, where they measured her hearing with a device, as well as having her answer questions regarding what she can hear. Not only is there an indication that she could have another, or the same, hole in her right ear, but there seems to be some partial hearing loss in her left ear as well. Okaaaaay!
I learned a lot about how our hearing works today. Apparently, Mary seems to be losing high frequency sounds. While she may be able to hear part of a word, she might be missing the ending or beginning sound. Naturally, this would affect her ability to learn in a classroom setting, and would of course, require a whole different set of accommodations. Lovely. Once again, we begin another journey. A journey into the world of tests and more tests. Of phone calls, and appointments. In the meantime, I have to look forward to trying to either make sure it can all be taken care of before February, so I can apply for that stupid scholarship, or I have to make countless phone calls to try to get around the cutoff date. What kills me is this, if I would have checked off the little box that said "no", to agreeing to have Mary's hearing tested in the beginning of the year, I would already have an IEP. Of course I can't regret saying "yes", because if there is something wrong with her hearing, it would have only gotten worse if left untreated. Once again, Mary's angels are looking out for her. Now if only they could make a few phone calls!
3 comments:
Oh my goodness! It seems that there are two ways of looking at this. Perhaps this hearing problem may be part of the problem that causes Mary to find school a challenge, but then you could also say that it's another problem to tackle. I am glad to hear that the genetic tests revealed no anomalies, but this hearing thing has got to be soooo frustrating! I am going to continue to keep Mary and your family in my prayers, and to keep thinking positive thoughts for all of you. Hopefully some very good things will come out of all of this. Once again, I admire your commitment and love for your daughter.
Wow. I don't even know what to think. I am happy she has normal genes, but I'm also surprised. I guess I just assumed that some of her challenges were hard-wired. But what do I know. And the hearing thing! If she has hearing loss, why then does she go through the roof when she hears loud noises? I'm so confused. All I can hope and pray for is that all of this leads to more understanding and help for her.
I know, very confusing! I guess it just reaffirms that her issues are all related to brain development and not genes. As far as the loud noises, I think that is more of a fear of the unexpected than the sound itself. I'll figure it all out one day!
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