PARENTAL PERSPECTIVES: FUELING SUCCESS IN THE MAINSTREAM CLASSROOM

Melanie Ribich

Kat Golden

Wendy Horvath

Tammy Kenny

Cynthia Logsdon

A panel of parents of children with hearing loss who listen and talk shared their experiences, tips, and wisdom.  They had so many great quotes and insights, I’m just going to list them below.  Their comments say far more than I ever could!  

WENDY HORVATH

• Build a strong team and trust them (it’s okay to be the mom, you don’t have to do it all).

• Be the expert on your child.

• Do what you feel is right.

• When children hit puberty, they may need more frequent CI mappings due to growth.  It’s also important to stay on top of self-advocacy and self-confidence.  Children who were previously strong in these areas may struggle around middle school time.

KAT GOLDEN

• Parents drive expectations and success

• Set goals before each school year begins

• Parents often serve as the communication hub for all members of that child’s team (school staff, outside therapists, CI team, etc.)

TAMMY KENNY

• Identify other challenges (in addition to the hearing loss) early

• Don’t be afraid to try “out of the box” approaches to mapping, like eSRT or phonological mapping, if convention methods aren’t getting you the desired results

• You’ve got to feel it, if it’s not right for your child, make a change!

• Help your child be aware of his needs and challenges and how to self-regulate and self-advocate

CYNTHIA LOGSDON

• My goals for my child: to be happy, and to be as successful as she would have been without the hearing loss

• Show appreciation for school staff who work with your child

• When working with school staff, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar!

MELANIE RIBICH

• Trust your gut, don’t be afraid to get a second opinion, and continually raise expectations

• High achieving children with hearing loss are not “rockstars” — with good intervention and technology, success is possible and should be the norm!

• The professionals you allow to be around your child should always be looking ahead and moving the trajectory forward

All recaps are from my notes, memory, and/or presentation materials made available by the presenters. Any errors or omissions are my own.