Twenty years ago.
You remember it like it was yesterday.
You did not find out what you were having with any of your pregnancies. You already had a boy, and you so badly wanted a girl. But, despite your heart’s desire, you remember praying, “You better give me another boy. I wouldn’t know what to do with a girl.”
Full disclosure: you were terrified of having a girl. You were worried you wold get a girly-girl, and you knew that you did not have the patience to deal with high maintenance. What if she liked frills, lace, and all shades of pink? What if she was preoccupied with her dolls, her make-up, and her social scene as real life swept right by her? What if she had no opinion and could not make decisions? What if she was overly concerned about what other people thought and stressed about living up to the expectations of others? You were terrified of having a truly prim and proper pushover who was only sugar and spice and everything nice.
Your daughter, however, is the perfect example of how this world knows exactly what you need and meets that need in every way. Your daughter is definitely not one of those girly girl things you had worried about. Her favorite colors are blue and green, she likes to play in the dirt, and is as happy without make up as she is with. What you see is what you get, and there is no drama with this daughter of yours. She is confident, strong, diligent, committed, loyal, independent, empathetic, caring, and responsible. She lives by her convictions and you are more than proud to celebrate these two decades of having a daughter.
Hearing Screenings Can Make All the Difference in the Education of a Young Child
As you look back on the last 20 years, however, you cannot help but remain thankful for those first hearing screenings that went on at the pediatrician’s office. The second of two children, everyone told you that you should not really be alarmed that your daughter was less verbal than her older brother. Second children, your friends and family members told you, could always rely on their older siblings to talk for them. Fortunately, your intuition took over and you insisted on an extra hearing test when you went in for a fairly early check up.
The pediatric hearing test did detect a problem, and you are certain that this early diagnosis of a mile hearing loss has played an important role in who your daughter is today.
Audiologists and the hearing screenings that they rely on can help many children get the start that they need to make sure that they are not only successful students, but also productive and adults. It is interesting to note that as many as 15% of children who are of the age to be in school have some degree of hearing loss. In many cases, it is not the pediatrician, but a school hearing screening that alerts both parents and educators to this need. With the use of everything from small hearing aids to cochlea implants, however, there are many ways to make sure that your child can get the educational start they need to reach their full potential.
Overall, nearly 20% of Americans report some degree of hearing loss and by the age 65 one out of every three people has some degree of hearing loss. Detecting these situations as early as possible is the best way to make sure that a small loss of hearing does not play a major role in the life of a child. Even as an adult, diagnosing a hearing loss can help people get back to living a life that allows them to fully participate in all of the activities that are available.
As the noise pollution in work continues to increase, it may come as no surprise that experts predict an estimated 900 million people throughout the world will be hearing impaired by the year 2025. Hearing clinics, audiologists, and many other resources can provide the necessary help that people of all age need to reach their potential. When was the last time
that you had your hearing checked?
