With bilateral cochlear implants (both ears) in Ireland’s news recently, here’s some information that may answer readers’ and families’ questions. Read: Who is a cochlear implant candidate? Some unilateral (single-ear) implant-wearers keep a hearing-aid in the other ear, and can recognise speech by listening through two ears. Others choose to ‘go bilateral’ with 2 cochlear
Newborn hearing testing in Ireland is progressing well, with potential impact on the lives of children eligible for unilateral or bilateral cochlear implants, the Medical Independent reports – but the system has follow-up ‘shortfalls’. Read: The Sound of Silence Early detection of hearing issues is essential for children to benefit from the cochlear implant programme, the MI quotes
Families of children with cochlear implants in Ireland are to write to the Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly, after broadsheet paper The Examiner revealed over 350 children must wait up to six years for second implants. Read: Reilly urged to fund ear implants programme A parent posted information to Sound Advice’s Facebook page after asking Beaumont
After this post, families in Ireland organised via the Sound Advice Facebook group, into the ‘Happy New Ear’ campaign for bilateral implants. At end-2013, the HSE announced that bilateral pediatric cochlear implants in Ireland would be funded. Despite the progress of Ireland’s national newborn hearing test programme, parents have concerns about the lack of two (bilateral) cochlear implant
New Zealand’s newborn hearing test and early intervention programme has run since 2010, with about 170 babies born per year with hearing issues. Read more: Opening A Door To The World Of Sound Pathways lead from this national newborn hearing test service, to early intervention programs with the family’s chosen communication method. One service is
The HSE is to actively shorten hearing-test waiting-lists in its Mid-West area, which covers North Tipperary, Clare and Limerick, and consists of about 53 per cent adults and 47 per cent children, the Irish Medical Times reports. Read: New HSE initiative to cut hearing-test waiting list Only recently, the HSE advised that newborn hearing tests
A family’s experience when their son’s deafness was misdiagnosed despite repeated hearing tests, recently featured in The Irish Examiner newspaper. Read: “If it happened to our son, it could happen to others” The family went public with fears that misdiagnoses might happen to others. Feel free to comment on this piece below, in the space provided. Further
By coincidence, new country statistics from Ireland and the UK for newborn hearing testing, became available the same week this month. The figures from the Irish Times paper show that since April 2011 over 8,000 babies have had newborn hearing tests in Cork one hundred babies were referred for further hearing testing all received intervention
Traditional deaf schools in the United States face an ‘uncertain future’ as more parents (and children) choose cochlear implants, with a correlating 85% of deaf children now attending their local mainstream schools and fully participating in their own local communities. Read: Cochlear Implants Redefine What It Means To Be Deaf Statistically in the US, over
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