On December 18th 2013, Ireland’s health minister, James Reilly, delivered one of the best possible Christmas presents the Sound Advice team could have received. His health-service plan for 2014 listed €3.22 million to develop pediatric services for bilateral cochlear implants at the national cochlear implant centre at Beaumont Hospital in Dublin. Bilateral Pediatric Implants Funded
Sound Advice (formerly IDK) is six years old today (Aug. 28th, 2013). For a venture that began with €5k and a website name, that’s a real achievement in a recession, particularly when change-making is a priority. Six years with no core, church or state funding This self-financing is a big Sound Advice ‘win’. Another is
Finalist status in Ireland’s 2014 Social Media Awards – Online PR category, was gained by Sound Advice (as IDK) after these posts – compiled by Caroline Carswell. Students at Ireland’s only audiology undergraduate course at Athlone Institute of Technology are reviewing their options after learning the course is to be scrapped at the end of
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
From France – how the mother of a boy who’s deaf, travels abroad to have his bilateral cochlear implants mapped, and to progress his speech teaching. What’s most disturbing is that the spoken-language approach did not seem to be mentioned on the French websites for cochlear hearing devices. Read more: The Sky Is The Limit
Cork University Maternity Hospital is now testing the hearing of newborn babies before they leave hospital, according to The Irish Times newspaper. The optional, free and non-invasive test is run while the baby is resting. A booklet, ‘Your Baby’s Hearing Screening Test‘ explains the full procedure. Further Reading * The HSE’s National Audiology Review document (April
A total of 1,786 children in Ireland’s Health Service Executive (HSE) South region have waited two to three years for a first hearing-assessment, with five children waiting two months for the first fitting of a hearing-aid. Sixteen minors in the region, aged from two to sixteen years old, also were not detected as having mild
On November 5th, 2010, The Irish Medical Times published a very significant piece, “Review Set To Tackle Audiology Waiting Lists“. IDK is delighted to see the NAR taking these steps in very difficult economic conditions. DeafHear (formerly the NAD) also deserves commendation for its sustained campaign toward universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS). According to the
Here’s another mum’s story about being let down by audiology services in Ireland, after her son failed a hearing test at 9 months. Other parents also shared their stories on the irishdeafkids.ie site. Charlie was 10 months old when the audiologist suggested glue ear was the underlying issue. I was told to return to the
Just recently, the Early Learning Initiative at National College of Ireland launched its new Parent Child Home Programme (PCHP). Many of the programme’s “points” are similar to the home-work the parents of severely to profoundly deaf children need to do, to develop their child’s spoken language as early in life as possible. Based on a
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