Bilateral Cochlear Implants: Hearing With Two Ears
Thursday, March 14th, 2013With bilateral cochlear implants (both ears) in Ireland’s news recently, here’s some information that may answer readers’ and families’ questions.
Read: Who is a cochlear implant candidate?
Some unilateral (single-ear) implant-wearers keep a hearing-aid in the other ear, and can recognise speech by listening through two ears. Others choose to ‘go bilateral’ with 2 cochlear implants, to [...]
School Awareness Poem: I am deaf, and it’s okay
Sunday, February 10th, 2013This poem was shared by a family whose son changed primary schools last September. He needed a snazzy way to tell his schoolmates and teachers about his hearing, and how to communicate with him. Here’s the result:
I am deaf and it’s okay
I am deaf, and it’s okay
It’s not my fault –
I was born this way!
I [...]
‘Happy New Ear’ To The HSE From A Parent Group
Friday, January 18th, 2013Last month, the Irish Examiner revealed that over 350 children are awaiting second cochlear implants from Beaumont Hospital’s pediatric service, due to HSE caps on budgets for spending on health and audiology services.
Children in Ireland currently receive one cochlear implant, in contrast to other countries where two implants (simultaneous or sequential) are seen as best practice for [...]
Bilateral Implant Wait List Concerns Irish Parents
Tuesday, December 18th, 2012Despite the progress of Ireland’s national newborn hearing test programme, parents have concerns about the lack of two (bilateral) cochlear implant surgeries for their children, when these are international best practice.
One family in Cork has considered emigrating to the UK to access NHS services after learning their baby’s second implant could take five years.
Read: Parents of [...]
What Are ‘The Different Ways Of Being Deaf’?
Tuesday, November 20th, 2012In recent days, IDK’s Facebook page showed a photo, advising us all to “Keep Calm and Celebrate Diversity”. Our point was that diversity exists in the deaf sector too, and some people don’t know [or acknowledge] this fact.
To learn about some ‘different ways of being deaf’, here’s a good piece:
Read >> Different Models of Deafness
In Ireland, [...]
One Language May Be Best For Kids With Implants
Monday, September 17th, 2012Children with a cochlear implant who learn spoken language only, may progress faster than others with implants who also learn sign language, according to new research from Leiden University in The Netherlands.
Read: No more sign language for deaf children with implants?
Not as far-fetched as it seems. For deaf children (like their hearing peers), proficiency in [...]
Implants Benefit Children With A Range Of Issues
Tuesday, September 4th, 2012After a child has meningitis, the family has only a small time-frame in which to plan for cochlear implant surgery. Meningitis causes the cochlea in the ear to harden soon after the illness, so quick decisions have to be made.
This Kiwi family tells the story of how a cochlear implant helped their son to gain [...]
Win A GAA Helmet With Mycro Sportsgear & IDK
Sunday, August 26th, 2012Today, the irishdeafkids.ie website is five years old! The website domain was registered on August 26th 2007, exactly five years ago on this date.
Mycro Sportsgear in Cork has given us a birthday gift to share with you! It’s a customisable GAA sports helmet, to which metal grids can be added over the ears to guard hearing-devices [...]
Teachers’ Assumptions: Kids With Hearing Issues
Monday, August 20th, 2012Recommended reading: when teachers learn a child with hearing issues is in their class, they may not know what to expect. This piece has solid advice for teachers in Ireland/the UK, and explains how the child may be feeling.
Read: Eleven misconceptions about children with hearing issues
Every child is different. Get to know your new pupil, [...]
TeachNet Blog: Closed Captions In The Classroom
Friday, March 23rd, 2012Attendees of the CESI 2012 conference last February, will recall the live captions that were requested by IDK’s Caroline Carswell, to facilitate her access to the sessions – and to give a live demo in her own presentation.
The CESI organisers arranged these live captions for the morning – from which a transcript was web-cast online. [...]