Congratulations!
First things first – congratulations on the birth of your baby! Remember that your baby is your child first and deaf second.
Like any parent of a new baby, we are sure that you will have many hopes and fears for your new baby.
However, as the parent of a child diagnosed with deafness, we know that your thoughts will have an extra layer of concern and uncertainty.
We are here to help
Here at Let’s Listen and Talk, we can understand these feelings, as many of us are parents just like you. And we have been lucky enough to have stood alongside thousands of parents of deaf children in over 40 years since our work began at The Elizabeth Foundation.
We asked for some information when you signed up, but please find a time to meet with us virtually (phone call, WhatsApp call or video, FaceTime) so we can learn more about you and your family in order to give you the best support we can in conjunction with your home support team.
Getting to know you
A unique part of the support we offer as part of the Let’s Listen and Talk programme is individualised advice and guidance from our expert staff team, based on your child’s specific needs and your family’s unique circumstances. For us to provide tailored advice, we need you to tell us about your child and your family – the more information we receive from you the better we will be able to support you and your child. We asked for some information when you signed up, but please get in touch to tell us anything else you think we’d like to know or to send us reports.
You are not on your own
We would like to reassure you that you are not alone. We are here to help you, alongside many other parents, support groups, charities and organisations who will be able to help your child reach their full potential. We’d love to put our virtual arms around you and help you and your baby start the journey of listening and speaking. It begins with vocalisations (“oohs” and “aahs”) which we can explain.
Keeping in touch
You can keep in touch with us using our special ‘members only’ contact form, or by phone, email or WhatsApp, Facetime, Skype etc. And we can direct you to other people and groups in your local area who can help.
Looking forward
Before we move on to the next topic, we’d like you to take a look at this short video. It shows some 3 to 4 year old children who are all moderately to profoundly deaf (some with hearing aids, some with cochlear implants) – talking about a transport trip they had just been on.