Deaf & Hard of Hearing Community

I have recently come across some great resources for parents of children who are deaf and hard of hearing. I continue to learn so much through other parents who are blogging about their experiences. We have also been learning a lot from Ladybug's educators. I will be excited to share her progress as she is absorbing and progressing so much during this new year.

Here are some of the resources:

*Deaf Village: A great place to access blogs of those in the deaf community.

*Hear the World: A wonderful teaching initiative about hearing loss sponsored by Phonak. Ladybug's hearing aid producers.

*Hands & Voices: Information and networking for those in the deaf/hard of hearing community.

*Raising Deaf Kids: A group at Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia started this network. I love the special needs section.

*The Care Project: Our family has already attended two workshops locally and we love this program! It touches on the emotions associated with hearing loss with the goal of acceptance and advocating on our children's behalf to give them the best life possible.

*Beginnings: A NC program to educate and support parents. This is the first group that contacted our family to educate us and has been a great resource.

*Sign Savvy: Video dictionary of ASL, one of my personal favorites.

*Signing Time: A Favorite DVD learning guide that our whole family loves.



"According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, hearing loss is the number one birth defect in the United States – nearly 33 babies are born every day with permanent hearing loss, 1 in 1,000 have a profound hearing loss and another 2 to 3 in 1,000 have partial hearing loss." {Hear the World}

Read about a common misconception regarding hearing aids. Hearing aids will fix the problem, children can hear normally when they wear them. Our daughter has sensorineural loss and this isn't always the case.

And look at why this famous musician of my era, Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block is advocating for the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Online Hearing Test.

For those of you, like me, who can hear all the many sounds God created. Be thankful. Don't take any of your senses for granted!