Children, parents, and professionals in partnership |
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Family Stories: Alex's Story Alex
Alex was diagnosed with a severe hearing loss at 12 weeks and aided at 14 weeks. It was by accident/fate that we stumbled across Jacqueline and finally managed to track her down via the web when Alex was about 7 months old. Up to that point Alex was steadily making progress but we were not satisfied he was going fast enough to achieve our goal. We had already decided that we wanted Alex to attend the same independent prep school as his brother. It was our aim that he would be at a level comparable with his peers by the time he moved into the Reception class. Had Alex continued doing what he was doing within the state system he would have been somewhere near our goal but not surpassing it as he is now. Our weekly trips to see Jacqueline were enlightening, she was simply able to get Alex to do things I just could not do. I was then able to practise her techniques during the following week and report back a week later. The video became a valuable diary of his progress, periodically I needed to watch it when we reached a stalemate and seemed not to be making any progress. Jacqueline became my rock, I needed her to keep me hard at it, particularly when the going got tough!! The thought that one day I would not need Jacqueline terrified me! Alex went from strength to strength, it seemed that whenever he was tested by the Speech and Language therapist in the hospital they were delighted with his progress, even though Alex never performed his best in the hospital environment! Another key step was the day when Alex was fitted with his digital hearing aids. We had been visiting the Burwood Centre in Newbury for independent assessment and advice and with their expertise Alex was fitted with appropriate digital aids. The moment they were switched on was like a light being switched on in a darkened room. Alex immediately seemed like a different little boy. Having had the aids fitted we were asked to go out for an hour and see how Alex got on so we went to a local supermarket. I put Alex in the trolley and started to walk the aisles. Unaware, as you are when in a shop, an announcement was made over the tannoy system. Immediately Alex asked why was the lady in the sky! Not only did acknowledge for the first time that he had heard the announcement but also was able to work out the voice's direction. Alex started in the nursery class at his brother's school at age two and a half years and quite quickly settled in. His teachers were rising to the challenge. Concentration has always been a big issue for him but with small class sizes and fairly structured play schemes he continued to progress well. His interaction with his peers developed using a combination of group games at school and play dates at home. Now, with only few months to go until his fith birthday, Alex has reached the goals we set. He is a sociable, well mannered, if somewhat cheeky 5 year old. (How normal!) He is very strong willed and sometimes quite stubborn. (a trait I feel will come in useful later in life) All that remains is to continue visiting Jacqueline on a monitoring basis. We are investigating using an FM system at school to give Alex direct input to his teachers which will hopefully help him concentrate. Most importantly we are enjoying every moment with our little boy who never ceases to be a joy in our lives." Sandy Video Watch a short video clip of Alex age 5 3/4 playing at being the teacher: Click here to download.
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"Many of you reading this will know how devastating it is when it's finally officially confirmed that your child is hearing impaired, also how difficult it is to stay focused and get on with dealing with the emotional and practical problems that lies ahead. There is so much to learn and find out about.