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Whatcom Hearing Impaired Children's HelpHello, my name is Sherry Zeilstra, and I am the parent of a fifteen year old hearing impaired boy. Since my son's diagnosis I have noticed a serious lack of information being given to parents in regards to their children and how hearing loss affects the child, family, education, social issues, and communication options. I am creating this page in hopes that other parents will be better able to make decisions for their child and family, and to find local providers and help within the Puget Sound Region. This site keeps getting bigger and more ahead of me. I'm trying to get it laid out in more logical manner, if that's at all possible. Anyhow, I have broken areas down into sections. Starting PointsWhat to do first? Where do we go? What should we do? We're confused, HELP! Sound familiar? I think all of us have this feeling of being overwhelmed. In fact, I often get accused of doing that, first with an information packet I wrote, which eventually got watered down, right back where it was, of no use in my opinion, and second, I get that from time to time with this site. I can't help it. I'm an information freak. So, if I'm overwhelming you, I sincerely do apologize, but if you're like me and want to know every detail about why your child can't hear, what options there are, and how to locate them, I'll try to have it all here! Starting Point DiagnosisFirst, most of us want to know "why" our child can not hear. You will read, and be told, that you may never know "why". Don't buy that answer. Push them to do testing so you can at least eliminate as many causes as possible. I dug around for six years, and just recently found out why my son has a hearing loss. It can take time, and a lot of perseverance, but I wouldn't settle for "we don't know". I have put a lot of informative links for various tests, syndromes, etc, on a separate page. Diagnosis Next StopAfter the initial shock of diagnosis wears off, what do you do next? I know for me there were so many questions, few answers, and so much I wanted to know. Like, " How do I communicate with my child?" I think it's important to understand there are many ways of communicating with your child. To decide what is best for your child and family, you will need a lot of information. I have a strong belief that this does need to be your choice, and you should be presented with all the options available. I haven't found this to be the case here. (sorry, but that's been my experience)
You mean there's more? Yep! Now you will need to get in touch with the Family Resource Coordinator for your county. You do this by either asking your physician, or calling the local Health Department. This person will assist you with getting services for your child and family. You will receive evaluations and an Individual Family Service Plan. More information on this can be found at:Early Intervention for Whatcom County, Early Intervention Information and Education All of these pages have information on Early Interventions services, and the laws that govern those. Information pertaining to Washington State Education laws and resources can also be found here.Okay I promised local information here, so I better get to it.Local Audiology, Medical Resources, and Services
That's all for now, please keep checking back as I will add new links as I find them. My other pages on this site have much useful information. Check them out.
Participants are also invited to join the Whatcom_Webmaster s email forum. This Whatcom
Webring site owned by Sherry Zeilstra.
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