Today’s Parent Tip of the Week is brought to
you by Cleveland Hearing and Speech Center
After a healthy pregnancy and birth, Christie and Josh Hersman welcomed Ava, an energetic baby girl with big blue eyes. When a newborn hearing screening indicated Ava might need further testing, the Hersmans took her to get an auditory brain response test, which confirmed Ava had moderate to severe hearing loss. With this diagnosis came a flood of emotion and questions.
“We were shocked, terrified,” Christie said. “Ava was our first child, and there were a lot of unknowns for sure.”
At four months, tiny Ava was fitted for her first set of hearing aids. When Ava was one, the Hersmans met Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center audiologist Elyse Miller. As one of more than 80 families CHSC audiologists serve each year through Ohio’s Early Intervention services to parents of infants and toddlers with disabilities or developmental delays, the Hersmans received monthly home visits from Dr. Miller. During these times, Dr. Miller observed Ava’s progress and answered any questions they might have about Ava’s hearing and development.
For Christie, Dr. Miller’s compassionate approach was the personal care she’d been missing throughout the whirlwind of Ava’s first year, packed full of doctor’s visits and tests.
“The first time we met, she played with Ava, and Ava took to her right away,” Christie said. “And I loved her, too, because she explained things in a way we could understand as parents. She taught us how to advocate for ourselves and how to prepare for the process of Ava’s education in our local school system.”
When Ava enrolled in her local school last year, her early intervention team attended Ava’s individual education program (IEP) meeting, coaching teachers how to best work with a child with hearing aids. The spunky, inquisitive preschooler loves her purple hearing aids, often asking to wear them to bed.
“When I think about what CHSC’s services mean to me, the word ‘invaluable’ keeps coming to mind,” Christie said. “Elyse honestly was my greatest resource. For me, to have an expert with that kind of knowledge explain things with a parent’s perspective in mind, it was just invaluable to us.”
CHSC Early Intervention Program
Our early intervention program is designed to enhance the development of infants and toddlers with hearing loss. It is designed to maximize the child’s potential.
We believe all families have strengths. The services we provide encourage them to use those strengths to enhance their child’s learning. We offer support and resources that build a family’s capacity to meet the goals they have for their child.
Visits with families will be provided in the child’s natural environment, which is typically the home, but may be in any location of the family’s choosing. Everyday routines and experiences will be the foundation for each visit. Visits can also be provided by tele-intervention, if desired.
For more information about Cleveland Hearing & Speech Center’s Early Intervention Services, please contact Bridgid Whitford at 216-325-7585 or [email protected]
