Sound Waves

Part 1: Roadmap for families The facts in brief Laying the foundations Coming to terms with your child's hearing loss Building a good team Creating a good listening environment Sound localisation and safety Making informed choices Advocating for your child Keeping records Starting school Part 2: Understanding Unilateral Hearing Loss How we hear Describing the hearing loss Finding a cause Maintaining good ear health Listening devices References
	Sound Waves Booklet (PDF)
	Sound Waves for iPhone or iPad

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Dear Parents

When your young son or daughter has been diagnosed with a unilateral hearing loss, it is not an easy time for families. The diagnosis often comes as a shock. Most parents know little about hearing loss in children and there is a lot to learn.

My daughter was diagnosed with a profound unilateral hearing loss in her left ear when she was 4. It did not come as a bolt out of the blue—she had been slow in talking—but the diagnosis consumed me for a while. I tried to imagine what the world must sound like to her. I thought of all the stories I had read to her that she had probably never heard properly and I thought of all the times I had whispered ‘I love you’ in her left ear. A thousand questions ran through my head – the biggest one being about starting school.

All of our stories are different. Whether we find out our baby has a hearing loss through newborn hearing screening or later in childhood, we need information and knowledge to guide us to make decisions and help us raise a happy, confident and independent young person. Living with unilateral hearing loss is different to living with a hearing loss in both ears or hearing in both ears and it is evident from the messages posted on the Aussie Deaf Kids online forum that finding information about unilateral hearing loss, its impact on a child and how to successfully manage the hearing loss has been difficult for families.

This is a guide to help lay the foundations for your child to grow into a healthy adult—a person who works, plays and loves. We have drawn on the current research on unilateral hearing loss as well as the experiences and thoughts of families who participate in the Aussie Deaf Kids online group.

I often think that the words of an old Bing Crosby song probably best describes the role of parents with a child with unilateral hearing loss:

‘You’ve got to accentuate the positive,
Eliminate the negative…’

This information has been compiled to help you achieve just this.Thank you to the parents in our online group who have shared their thoughts and wisdom. Aussie Deaf Kids could not have produced this information pack without the Inger Rice Foundation. We are very grateful for their support.

Ann Porter
Founder, Aussie Deaf Kids

P.S. We have used the abbreviation UHL (unilateral hearing loss) throughout; it is a term you will become very used to.

'What does it matter that we've taught this girl to read and write and spell, and to do all the things that we think are essential, if no one along the line taught her the sacredness of being alive and taught her the dignity and the wonder of her own personal self worth?' Leo Buscaglia16