Resources for Parents of Children with Hearing Loss

All about your Child's Hearing


Anatomy of the ear and how sound gets to the brain:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQEaiZ2j9oc

About Hearing Loss or Hearing Status:https://www.cdc.gov/hearing-loss-children/about/types-of-hearing-loss.html

Hearing and Balance:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie2j7GpC4JU

How to read an audiogram:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLLz2nYKi7E

Sound Booth Testing or Visual Reinforcement Audiometry:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5I-Obzmj08

Hearing Devices and Technology


All about Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implants:https://www.hearingfirst.org/hearing-evaluation-and-technology/hearing-devicesChecking if the device is working (Six sound test):https://www.hearingfirst.org/b/blog/posts/why-ling-six-sounds-matter

Cochlear Implants

What is a cochlear implant:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmNpP2fr57A

Hospitals that perform Cochlear Implants in Michigan:

Cochlear Implant Companies/Options:

Ear Infections or Otitis Media

Ear Infections - Symptoms, Causes and Treatments:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_FwJj8oNQQ

How to Spot and Treat an Ear Infection:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q397uSGXu2g

Tympanometry (Test to check for ear infections):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMoPzQmiJ3g

Ear Tubes:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Sp3FKLfsHw

Are Ear Infections Contagious:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhUQauFLKd8

Three Types of Ear Infections:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o7jkRbrdtY


Communication Options Available

Communication Options:https://agbell.org/2024/03/22/communication-options/

Cued Speech:https://cuedspeech.org/

Total Communication Approach:https://www.handsandvoices.org/comcon/articles/totalcom.htm

Listening and Spoken Language Approach:https://www.hearingfirst.org/lsl#:~:text=Most%20likely%2C%20you%20learned%20to,is%20really%20about%20the%20brain!



This section was developed in hopes of helping to support families emotionally.  The emotional feelings that go along with having a child with a hearing loss are very real.  You are not alone.  There are agencies listed below that want to help guide you.  Please feel comfortable sharing your feelings with me as well.  I will do my best to listen!  I've shared the letter "Welcome to Holland" (Click Here), which was written by a parent who describes how she feels about having a child with special needs.


I'd also like to share a short article written by a professor about helping parents through the grief process of having a child with special needs. Although this article is written for educators, I think it has a lot of value for parents. It discusses how parents grieve a loss when they learn that their child has a disability. The parent may go through the stages of grief. All parents' grief "process" is different. Please read "Children with Special Needs: Helping Parents through Grief" (Click Here).

Guide By Your Side (Parent to parent support):https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/mdhhs/Adult-and-Childrens-Services/Children-and-Families/EHDI/GBYS_Brochure.pdf?rev=b15a56e490514631a6c14aece84446d6

Or https://www.mihandsandvoices.org/guide-by-your-side

Michigan Hands and Voices (Family to family support):https://www.mihandsandvoices.org/

LEAD-K (Supporting language development of all children in Michigan who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing):https://www.michigan.gov/mde/resources/lead-k

Michigan Early Hearing Detection and Intervention Program (EDHI):https://www.michigan.gov/mdhhs/adult-child-serv/childrenfamilies/ehdi

Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Resource Guide for families of children who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing:https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/mdhhs/Adult-and-Childrens-Services/Children-and-Families/EHDI/a_unhsmanual.pdf?rev=c3c6c04f49ab4e9f8e26e7b5b2ec107b

Deafblind Central (Resources for families with children who have vision and hearing loss):https://www.cmich.edu/academics/colleges/college-education-human-services/centers/deafblind-central

Hearing First (Listen and Spoken Language support and strategies for families and educators):https://www.hearingfirst.org/

Michigan Alliance for Families (Connecting families to statewide resources regarding your child's education):https://www.michiganallianceforfamilies.org/

Early On (Partnering to support your child's development birth to three years of age):https://www.1800earlyon.org/

Alexander Grand Bell Association (Listen and Spoken Language advocacy):https://agbell.org/Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services (Equal communication access, education, and advocacy to the Deaf, DeafBlind, and Hard of Hearing):https://deafhhs.org/


Events in the Community

Resources for Deaf/Hard of Hearing (RDHH-Events in the community):https://mailchi.mp/mdelio/january-2023-newsletter-18101471?e=b1f65c3786

Camp-T:https://camptuhsmeheta.org/

Lions Bear Lake Camp:https://www.bearlakecamp.org/

AG Bell Camp (see AG Bell facebook page)

Sign Language Resources

American Sign Language Alphabet:https://www.asl.ms/()/fingerspellingchart.htm

American Sign Language Numbers:https://www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/n/numbers.htm

Signing Savvy (ASL vocabulary):https://www.signingsavvy.com/

American Sign Language University (ASL vocabulary):https://www.lifeprint.com/

ASL Nook (ASL vocabulary):https://aslnook.com/

Signing Time (Learning ASL through engaging videos for children):https://www.mysigningtime.com/watch-free

Rocky Mountain School for the Deaf Youtube (ASL Storytelling videos for children):https://www.youtube.com/@RMDSCO/videos

Learn how to sign (Instructional sign language videos):https://www.youtube.com/learnhowtosign