How my child’s mild hearing loss led to my hearing loss diagnosis
January 2, 2019
Parent-child dialogue promotes language development in toddlers
January 4, 20193 Phonak classroom resources you should know about
Over 20 years ago I started my journey as a pediatric audiologist and was fortunate to work in one of the few multidisciplinary centers that had teachers of the deaf in the core team.
As a new audiologist, I was keen to learn all I could to support children with hearing loss and their families. I was brought up to speed by the leading clinical advisors who coached and mentored me to be able to test, fit, evaluate and provide rehabilitative services to these families. That, I expected. But. I didn’t expect to learn so much from the teachers of the deaf. Their work showed me the value of a more comprehensive approach and how supporting families with early intervention and resources empowered parents and their children.
Fast forward 15 years and in 2013, I was gifted the greatest responsibility I had ever imagined in my audiology career – to lead a dedicated team to not only develop the best hearing devices and wireless accessories for kids of all ages, but to go beyond the technology. We were to develop resources that truly empower children and families along the journey.
I work for a company whose brand promise is to ‘change lives’. And we obviously do that with our focus on developing innovative, dedicated solutions and features that give children the best access to sounds in every part of their life.
Read more: Would my child benefit from rechargeable hearing aids?
But equally important for me is our commitment to finding ways for families to move forward in their journey, to help break down the stigmas associated with hearing loss, and give parents and kids real tools and resources that enable them to grow, develop and build self-confidence. I’m proud to be part of a team and a company that is committed to building resources that do that – truly changing lives.
Here’s a glimpse of some of the resources we have created.
1) Phonak.com website pages for parents and teachers
We created two new pages on Phonak.com to help families, hearing care professionals and educators find the wonderful resources we have developed in one location. See our web pages for both parents and teachers.
2) Leo the Lion!
The team created a Mascot, Leo to empower children, including a Quiver coloring APP, with over 1 million sessions recorded globally since its inception.
3) Professor Hallux videos
We partnered with UK radio station Fun Kids Live, to create educational YouTube videos about hearing loss for children. The YouTube videos are called, “Professor Hallux’s Hearing Help Desk.” Professor Hallux is a scientist works with Nurse Nanobot to learn how the ear works. Each video talks about a different topic of hearing loss. The topics range from explaining what an audiologist is, to protecting your hearing from noise, to how to communicate with hearing loss.
Have you used these classroom resources before? Let us know in the comments!
