Children, parents, and professionals in partnership |
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Family Stories: Vanessa's Story Vanessa
When we eventually did find out what was wrong, we were devastated by the news, although there was also a certain sense of relief and the feeling that at last we could do something. Unfortunately, we did not get the support we needed from the responsible medical and educational professionals. In fact, we had to fight for every bit of help ourselves. This included basic information, advice, good hearing aids, therapy and so forth. It was the stories of other parents that made me persevere, however. Having read how other parents had succeeded in securing the best hearing aids (or cochlear implants) for their children and had helped them learn to listen and speak, I was determined that we could do the same. I also enrolled in a correspondence course for parents run by the John Tracy Clinic in Los Angeles, which was going to be my lifeline for many months to come. Through reading a lot of material on the subject, I came across the auditory-verbal approach, the approach that makes the utmost use of the child's residual hearing through the use of the latest technology in audiology and specific therapy. Inspired by an article by Daniel Ling, I was determined that Vanessa should have the best possible hearing aids, and after a long search and with the help of the Swiss auditory-verbal therapist Susanna Schmid-Giovannini, we found an acoustician (in Germany) who could help us. Although Vanessa - who so obviously craved sounds and language - had loved her initial hearing aids from day 1 and already made good progress with them, the new hearing aids were a real turning point. The combination of excellent amplification and weekly therapy sessions with a speech therapist who used many AV ideas proved to be exactly what Vanessa needed.
Looking back over the past three years since her diagnosis, I can say that most of the important steps had to be taken in opposition to ‘the system' and had to be fought for with extreme determination and perseverence. Inspired by auditory-verbal families and professionals, encouraged by Vanessa's obvious love for vocal expression and the fact that she thrives in a structured environment that places high expectations on her, we have followed our own instincts with the motto: No-one cares for our daughter as much as we do, and if we don't fight for her, no-one will. Vanessa is now fully integrated into a mainstream primary school, where she is well supported and very happy. Her English is developing extraordinarily well and her German, which she still uses at home with me, is making good progress too. We are very grateful for all the support we have found along the way." Videos of Vanessa
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![Vanessa [right] and Jacqueline](images/vpuppets.jpg)
"Our daughter Vanessa was born in Germany in May 1995. She was diagnosed as severely deaf in April 1997 after almost two incredibly difficult years in which she passed several hearing tests and was observed and examined by a variety of other doctors and consultants who kept telling us that there was absolutely nothing wrong with her.![Vanessa [right] and Jacqueline](images/vbook.jpg)
In July 1998 we moved to England. In preparation for this relocation, we had attended the very useful DELTA summer course in the previous year. Through AVI in America, we then found out about Jacqueline, and since September 1998 we have taken Vanessa to Oxford for weekly therapy sessions. We always look forward to our appointments in spite of the long journey (130 mile round trip) and the fact that we have to fund this ourselves.