This is Charlie – Rob and Liz Smith’s new baby who has been identified with a bilateral moderate hearing loss.
The Smiths are part of a large country family and Charlie is their first baby. They want Charlie to be able to join in all the family fun as he grows and have close friendships with his many cousins.
Meet Hannah and her big brother Nick. Hannah is Michael and Natalie Johnson’s second child and they have recently had her profound hearing loss confirmed at the hospital.
Hannah’s aunt is deaf and has been using sign language since she went to university and met some Deaf friends. Michael and Natalie want Hannah to have friendships with both deaf and hearing friends.
Rob and Liz want Charlie to be able to speak, like all the members of their family.
One of their functional goals for Charlie is, therefore, for him to have age-appropriate spoken language.
To achieve this goal, Charlies’ family are looking for an early intervention service that specialises in listening and spoken language.
Both families want their child to have oral communication skills. To reach this goal, both Charlie and Hannah need to get good quality listening devices to boost their access to sound.
Charlie has been to the audiologist and had impressions taken of his ears, and will be fitted with his hearing aids at their next appointment.
To achieve the family’s fundamental goal for Hannah, she will need to be bilingual – she will need both spoken and signed communication.
A functional goal for Hannah might be to develop age-appropriate spoken English and Auslan (Australian Sign Language).
To achieve this functional goal, Hannah’s parents are exploring services that can provide Hannah with both spoken and sign language early intervention. The family will also need to learn Auslan if they want to communicate effectively with Hannah as she grows.
Both families want their child to have oral communication skills. To reach this goal, both Charlie and Hannah need access to good quality listening devices to boost their access to sound.
Hannah has a profound hearing loss and her family have an appointment to discuss cochlear implants with their ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialist.
Disclaimer: The information contained on this website is not intended as a substitute for independent professional advice.
