So there are 2 sides to Alice’s treatment, the first is medical, intervention, devices and the such. The second is therapy.

One of the first things that happen when you are diagnosed as hearing impaired is you get a “TOD” or “Teacher of the Deaf”. In theory these are specialist teachers who organise your support workers, help you to develop communication, work with getting the best results from aiding, organise the most appropriate schooling environment and are part of the assesment process for statementing (a statement of educational support).

In practice they are people who turn up at your house sometimes and check Alice is wearing her aids and then invite other people to also turn up. Our TOD has seen Alice 4 times and has played drinking tea and rolling the ball with her. She has no experience with cued speech but claims to support our communication choice. Has she helped Alice to communicate – no, are we any further through her input I’m afraid that’s a no as well.

Note to parents in similar situation do your own homework, find your own way and don’t rely on anyone.

So we have chosen cued speech to get language into her now. We have contacted AV Oxford to consider post implantation intensive therapy and have spoken with Christopher Place in Euston and have e-learning coming from the Elizabeth Foundation in Portsmouth. Note to self when rich set up a therapy centre in kingston as travelling this far is not fun but also not optional.

Dr. Wendy calls

She has spoken to Dr Sirimanna at GOSH (Great Ormond St) and he has suggested the following: cued speech, get hearing aids and go and see him post the scans….

Cued speech – fortunately as a prolific google-ers we’d found it already.

Essentially, BSL (British Sign Language) is just that, another language and has been the traditional communication method for the deaf.

Cued speech is just a visual representation of what you actually say . Research in the US has, time and time again, stated that children that understand cue-ing perform in line with their hearing peers. Alice is deaf but I’m buggered if she’s not going to achieve everything that she was always going to, hearing or otherwise. So cued speech it is….. Grandparents, siblings, godparents and others have booklets, night school and a new world waiting. http://www.learntocue.co.uk

so we’re back the following week for the ear mold impressions and a week later for fitting