Our dd is seven weeks old and has just been diagnosed with a moderate sensori neural hearing loss; we've had moulds taken for hearing aids this week, and she'll need the aids for life. Its unlikely she'll have to learn sign language (though its been suggested we do baby signing with her), but time will tell. Obviously this is not what we wanted for her, but we're being positive about it and not moping - although its a bit of a shock, its not the end of the world. I broke out in a huge allergic reaction to something (possibly hormones?) at 8 weeks pregnant, and wondered throughout the pregnancy if it would have affected the baby, so for this reason, its perhaps not entirely unexpected.
Just wondering if there are any other parents out there who've been in a similar situation? We've been referred to an education specialist who can provide us with help, but just wondering about practical issues to start with. How do you keep hearing aids on a tiny baby? How do you explain it to a sibling (we also have a 3 year old ds) and involve them too? Are there any organisations you've found to be of particular help? Were you advised to apply for DLA, and did you get it? I'm due to go back to work in March/April and have dd's name down for the same nursery as ds, where she'll go 2 days a week. Is this a suitable environment for her? Already feeling guilty at the thought of leaving her when I return to work, but don't want to treat her any differently to ds - is this realistic? As you can see, lots of garbled thoughts, so any advice offered would be much appreciated.
Many thanks.