Sorry state of affairs

A grandmother from our speech therapy class got inspired and wrote about the life changing experiences of deaf children and their parents in a local newspaper of Maharastra , our state.This paper caters to even small villages and is very widely read. After this hundreds of parents with their deaf kids rushed to meet Mrs. Hudlikar asking her to perform her magic on their deaf kids who were speechless due to various reasons. The kids were in the age group of 20 to 30 years but that hope in the parents had not died , that one day their child too would talk and call out to them.It was a very overwhelming experience for her as at that age to develop speech is very difficult. All the wrong habbits in speech have been developed, voice is spoilt and the the child is too settled in his world. The stories that came out were horrifying.A leading audiologist in the city is doing the test and then giving hearing aids which were sometimes out of reach but parents still bought them as they wanted the child to be integrated. No mention of speech therapy where the child learns to perceive sound is given .The speech therapy given is so poor that none of the kids talk. Children who are intergrated into normal lives were not shown as they do not have such kids.The parents are illetrate and are not in a position to ask questions. In due course of time when the child does not talk, due to lack of good speech therapy, the child is recommended for cochlear implant without any preparations for the parents. The poor parents, in order to normalize the child's life are ready to sell their land and homes . Some get them implanted but due to lack of speech therapy, the child is where he was even a year back. When will this mal- practice stop? Is not the duty of the audiologist and the implant surgeon to give a complete service?Is the speech therapy not part of it all?The parents should know that after the expensive aids or CI , how the child would be by showing past cases. They will never show you, even if you ask as they have nothing to show. Why can't the focus be the most important factor- speech therapy? The aid and Ci are just means to bring the sound to the ear, but the speech therapy gives meaning to it and helps to interpret them. I am not against them making money, make it but give the service too. The main thing lacking is also parents support group. i wish they would come together and fight the system. But they fear them as they are the ones we need to go to for the tube, wires, moulds etc. we can't fight them as there are no alternatives.I feel for those kids and their parents. I wish I was able to make this blog reach out to the remotest of villages so that the parents could understand and make choices.The circle could break. My teacher is so depressed looking at the parents who had hopes and tears in their eyes.I wish the mothers could come together and form a group so that we could educate the parents. This was the reason to start my you tube account-    rouchi6  .this is speech therapy which has changed lives for the last 40 years, it needs to be spread.The mothers trained under her are all very good speech therapists and counselor. As we don't have certificates we are not recognized by anybody.I wish some good soul could see this and bring change in India.

Glands behind the ear

I am a bit worried as now Prisha has these glands behind her right ear which have started to pain.She has such nodules behind the ear and the scalp on the lower end since birth and I could feel them while feeding her. I asked a few doctors about it but they all said they are sweat glands and would go away. Month ago she had boils on her scalp above her right ear which pained her a lot. Thankfully they are now scabs and are slowly dying.She is now down since 10 days with very bad bout of cold and cough and 2 days back she complained of pain in the 2 glands behind the ear. Any suggestions? I wonder if anybody has had issues like this and may need attention. I hope it is not related to her hearing impairment.I am at a loss about it. I did surf the net and would consult a specialist, but any input would be really appreciated.

Kidney stones going

Today I decided to get Prisha's sonography done to know the status of her kidney stones. i did have a bit of a restless night thinking about the findings. I got ready early and woke Prisha only when it was time to go. No toilet as the bladder needed to be full, topped it with milk and then we were off to the clinic. It was decided that the "photographs of the stomach" shall be taken first by me [ for the fibroid that I have] and then she would get hers clicked.

I was thrilled to know that out of the two 3 mm stones , one had gone and the 2nd was now 2.9 mm big. So Dr. Sunil Anand, your medicines are working.After many days , there was some peace of mind. Her boils on the scalp too have reduced in size and pain.Her ear too scratch a bit but the it could be due to dry ears caused by my blow drying her ears. I use mullien ear drops at night and then there is relief all day. I am hoping for some more good news by the year end. Hopefully she would be hale and hearty the entire next year.

Ear itching still on

I am wondering if ear itching is part of hearing impaired children or it is just with Prisha. She has been scratching her ear regularly at least once a day.By night yesterday, she was scratching her ears with her fingers stuffed into her ears.My husband tells me that the itch may have always been there , but it is just that she is now able to express it in language.I have put mullien oil in her ears at night which is a homeopathic remedy for otitus media, ear itch and pain and is is to be put in ears so long as the ear drum is not perforated. Her ears are very clean. i had been to the pediatrician as she was again down with fever for 5 days, had very painful boils on the scalp and the face .i got her blood test done along with the urine test to make sure the WBC is all right.2 months back she had a huge infection [ UTI] and the WBC was too high. To play safe I got it done earlier to rule out more complications.Fortunately a few things are a little above border line and can be rectified. The fever too has finally subsided after 5 days .She is looking so pale with those constant illness in some form or the other. With the change in the new medicine the boils are bursting and I am hoping they just leave Prisha alone now.She is on vitamins last 2 months and am giving her more water to drink [ which she detests].When I wash her sores on the scalp with warm salted water , I hate her cries of pain.I am still so scared to put her left hearing aid. She has suffered a lot of loss in school too, due to her various problems.I hope she resumes school this week.