SayWhatClub December 2006 Newsletter

^{I recently received a copy of Debby Waldman and Dr. Jackson Roush's book "Your Child's Hearing Loss, What Parents Need to Know." This has got to be required reading for all parents who first discover their child is hearing impaired or deaf.

The book is formatted in simple language so as not to create additional anxiety for an already overwhelmed parent. The book starts at the beginning from the diagnosis stage to the assessments and different interventions available: from the parents' process of accepting their child wearing an aid(s) to the complicated choices of hearing aids, FM units and cochlear implants, how to deal with the professionals you encounter, how to advocate for your child and, best of all, other parents' support and advice and what worked best for them.

The book shares some of the children's lost hearing aid stories. Parents speak of lost hearing aids and the lengths they go through to find them. Though serious at the time, parents were able to look back and laugh about it. Some incidents mentioned, include a small boy hiding his hearing aid in a dry wall, a neighbor's dog eating the hearing aid placed on a chair, and the little girl who parked her hearing aid in the elevator of her Fisher-Price parking garage.

The authors clearly state that their book "would be of more interest to families who choose to communicate with their child using an oral language method in conjunction with hearing aids or cochlear implantation." What I found most interesting was the authors' respect of the rights of families to choose ASL or any other form of communication such as English Sign, and even provide resources at the end of their book. This is truly a rarity these days.

This book, clearly and simply focuses on all the issues that truly matter to the parent with a child who is newly diagnosed with hearing loss. A must read.}

^{The book may be purchased at}http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399530770/ref=pd_rvi_gw_1/104-8264844-6983

^{Pearl Feder}