Collaborating with Families

[SoCalAud]

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Hello everyone,

Here's a brief statement from a parent of a child with a hearing impairment:

"I remember when my youngest son (he has the hearing impairment) was born, the hospital told me he was failing his hearing tests. Over the course of 6 weeks, we visited many doctors, audiologists, and hospital personnel. At the end of those 6 weeks, the Director of Audiology at our hospital told us "I'm sorry, but he's still flat-lining with his tests". At this point, she was indicating he was totally deaf. Of course we were devastated and he suggested the CA School for the Deaf - we were thinking the worst."

As an audiologist, I would like to be an advocate for my patients, but telling parents that there is one pathway to life for their child is a little offensive. I know MD's do this all the time, but can we practice not doing this in our field? Is there a seminar, grad course or anything that can guide us to do things like this a little bit differently?

 

[cidanu]

Hello everyone,

Here's a brief statement from a parent of a child with a hearing impairment:

"I remember when my youngest son (he has the hearing impairment) was born, the hospital told me he was failing his hearing tests. Over the course of 6 weeks, we visited many doctors, audiologists, and hospital personnel. At the end of those 6 weeks, the Director of Audiology at our hospital told us "I'm sorry, but he's still flat-lining with his tests". At this point, she was indicating he was totally deaf. Of course we were devastated and he suggested the CA School for the Deaf - we were thinking the worst."

As an audiologist, I would like to be an advocate for my patients, but telling parents that there is one pathway to life for their child is a little offensive. I know MD's do this all the time, but can we practice not doing this in our field? Is there a seminar, grad course or anything that can guide us to do things like this a little bit differently?

do you mean presenting all the communication and treatment options - such as ASL, oral, cued speech, cochlear implants, etc.?

you will have coursework on this subject in grad school. it's specifically written in our scope of practice that we provide unbiased information regarding communication and treatment options. in my program this was hammered into us.

more old school audiologists may not always do this though.

 

[SoCalAud]

Okay, good! I will definitely check into the schools I'm applying to and ask them about those courses. I do know Aural Rehab is one of them, but not sure if it would be the same as my undergrad aural rehab class. We didn't cover that part during class discussions, so I think that would be upsetting if that occurred again in grad school.

 

[cidanu]

in my program it was specifically covered in two classes:
Speech and English Language Characteristics of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Individuals
Aural Rehabilitation: Pediatric

 

[rEliseMe]

I have not encountered this so far in my graduate course work, but in my undergraduate course work, the point was definitely made that it is our purpose to provide the options in an unbiased manner, and let the client or parent choose the best option for them or their child. If we adopt this basic value, the detailed course work is unnecessary, although it is still helpful either way!