I am a Parent Guidance Therapist at the Carel du Toit Centre. My task is to assist Liezel and Eugene in teaching their daughter to use the wonderful technology that Widex has given her; and to create the best language learning environment possible.

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I first met this amazing family at the beginning of March 2006. Denise was still a baby, lying on her back or sitting in her car chair. These first meetings are always very emotional, and this meeting was no exception.

The first visit
During a first visit we typically discuss: hearing aids and their care, the audiogram and its implications, the services available at our Centre, methods of education for a hearing-impaired child in SA and any questions that the parents may have.

If the parents wish to enroll their child in the programme, the help begins immediately. We follow a whole-child approach at the Centre, which means that we look at where the child is in his/her development and we continue to encourage a normal pattern of development.

We started with activities to get Denise listening. Hearing is one thing, but listening is a whole different matter. So I tasked Mom, Dad, Gran and Grandpa with the job of immersing Denise in the world of sound and watching to see what she could hear and what she responded to.

Follow-up
A month later they travelled all the way from Potchefstroom to Pretoria for a follow-up visit. This time a very chatty, self-sitting bundle appeared before me. WOW! I could not believe the progress!

At this visit, we started to address the issue of pre-linguistic development. That is what needs to be in place before a child will or can learn to talk. During this visit we looked specifically at eye-contact, and how it conveys communication, and turn taking.

Denise was a star! During the session we managed to get examples of both. So now for the next month, Mom, Dad, Gran and Grandpa have been tasked with looking for and encouraging these two behaviours.

The first hearing test
Carina has contacted me and now I have been tasked with preparing Denise for her first hearing test with the hearing aids. This is always so exciting. It is wonderful to see what a difference the hearing aids are making, and to show it to the parents on paper.

It can also be a little disappointing when the hearing still isn’t where we would like it. But at least we still have one more trick up our sleeves if this should be the case – a cochlear implant.
 

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