Challenged

Many years ago, I met someone who was born deaf.  “Deaf” was the term of choice back then.  The hearing loss was profound and probably due to complications from maternal rubella.  Nevertheless, this person had learned to speak fluently and confidently.  And, she had graduated valedictorian, at the top of her professional class.

I had the opportunity to talk to her mother and ask how she had taught her daughter to speak.  Her mother first told me about the older and unimpaired sibling.  “With our first child, we had to repeat a sound four or five times.  With each repetition he took in more information, until he could accurately repeat what he had heard.”

“With our younger daughter it was different.  First, we had to recognize that something was wrong.  Once the proper diagnosis was made, we had to get her fit with the best hearing aids available.  Even with that, she had only one or two percent of normal hearing.  Then came the hard work.”

“Instead of repeating sounds five or six times, we had to repeat sounds 50 or 60 times.  But, if we did this enough, if we persevered, she too got enough information in to be able to imitate and repeat our words.”

This story is filled with important lessons that I shared with many patients and parents.  First, a problem must be recognized and acknowledged, then followed by a thorough evaluation.  Proper treatment begins after an accurate diagnosis is made.

I compared the hearing aid to medication.  The hearing aid was not a cure.  Often, neither is medicine, especially when prescribed for conditions like ADHD.  The hearing aid created a window of opportunity, an increased receptivity to sound.  It made learning sounds possible.  Like the hearing aid, ADHD medication is prescribed in order to create an increased opportunity for learning. If medication allows more information to get in, more efficiently, then more learning is possible.

I reminded parents that the hearing aid did not make the hearing perfect, but it helped.  Medication does not make things perfect, but often it helps.

I pointed out that had the mother tried to teach speech without the use of a hearing aid, all the hard work would have been for nothing.  But if there had only been the hearing aid, and not all the hard work and diligent teaching, nothing would have been gained.   I cautioned parents that medication is not the end point, only a beginning.  The hard work of diligent parenting and teaching must follow.

I encouraged patients and parents to remember that this young girl’s deafness was a daunting challenge, but it was never allowed to become her excuse.