Hearing

Editor: How many times have you heard someone say that if a person has to be deaf, this is the best time for it? Technology to assist people with hearing loss has made enormous strides in just the past few years, as this article from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review documents. Our thanks to the Tribune-Review for allowing us to share it with you.

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High-tech hearing aids and the success of cochlear implants are helping deaf and hard-of-hearing children speed their academic progress and mainstream into traditional schools at a much faster pace, educators say.

The progress has altered the age demographic at one local school serving deaf and hard-of-hearing children for nearly a century.

The DePaul School for Hearing and Speech now has more children in preschool and toddler programs than in its elementary school program because students are mastering speech and listening skills much sooner and returning to traditional schools.

"Our population has shifted but that's exciting, and it's exactly what we want," said Sister Mary Jo McAtee, whose school is hosting the Alexander Graham Bell Association for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Convention at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center today through Tuesday.

The convention is expected to attract more than 2,000 educators, medical professionals and adults and families of children with hearing loss.

"Our goal is to get to them as early as we can and give them speech and language skills as quickly as we can."

Imparting those skills has become much easier thanks to such advancements as digital hearing aids and cochlear implants, which are surgically placed under the skin behind the ear and can pro vide a sense of sound to someone profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing.

The technology enables profoundly deaf children "to have access to speech sounds in ways they never had before," McAtee said. As a result, children develop speaking and listening skills at an earlier age, which in turn aid their ability to learn to read.

"And reading predicts all academic success," said McAtee, who taught at DePaul for 17 years and is the Shadyside school's director of education services.

Cochlear implants are available to children as young as 1. Nearly 10,000 children in the U.S. have received implants, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. About another 13,000 adults have implants.

Jennifer Meyers, 9, and her brother, Timmy, 7, have had implants to help them cope with their hearing loss. Their mother, Linda Meyers, of North Versailles, said the implants and the academic and personal support her children have received at DePaul have enabled both to make substantial strides.

"They face a lot of challenges every day, but the teachers and staff go above and beyond what we've expected," Meyers said.

About 4,000 students have attended DePaul since the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill established it in 1908. The school stresses an auditory and oral approach aimed at developing speaking and listening skills.

Linda Meyers said that's why she chose DePaul for her children rather than a school that emphasizes signing.

"It's a harder avenue to take but in the long run it truly pays off because the children can communicate with anyone," she said. "It's not that signing is a bad thing, but not everyone can sign."

Patti McGowan said her son Hunter's hearing problem wasn't diagnosed until he was almost 3. She credits DePaul as being instrumental in her son's academic growth.

"DePaul gives families so many opportunities," said McGowan, of Nort h Huntingdon, Westmoreland County. "They provide so much support and do a lot of forums. They go beyond the book."

Linda Meyers said her daughter also was nearly 3 before her hearing loss was diagnosed.

Jessica Ripper of the Alexander Graham Bell Association said her organization is launching a campaign at this week's convention to raise awareness about the importance of early diagnosis and intervention.

"There's a critical window of opportunity for learning language and that is from birth to age 3," Ripper said. "Parents need to make sure their children are screened by one month, go for diagnosis by three months and are enrolled in early intervention by six months."