I am Afreen Yousuf, mother of Hafsa . I would like to share my child story to motivate other mothers to take action if their children have hearing loss at birth.
Hafsa was my first child and I was so happy to have her. Initially, myself and my family members felt that she was developing like any other child. As the time went on we realized that our child is not hearing and not picking words when compared to other same age children. We went on exploring what to do next, we had some bits and pieces of information, then we met Mohammad’s mother who was having her son already diagnosed with similar issues and attending speech therapy regularly at Meenakshi Venkatraman Foundation.
She was the first person to give a reliable information and we just believed her as she is a mother of a child with hearing impairment. Then she herself recommended us to visit Meenakshi Venkatraman Foundation for the further testing and recommendations, as they do it for FREE of cost. We had to convince our family members to travel from distant district called Sanga Reddy to Hyderabad for the Professional services.
We visited and consulted audiologists at MVF. They had taken a detailed history of my daughter. We just got to know that any issues during newborn stage should be attended immediately and also it is must to test for hearing. My daughter was in incubator for 4 days due to neonatal pneumonia and respiratory distress. We did not go for hearing testing as we were not aware of it.
Finally MVF team advised for hearing screening and follow diagnostic hearing evaluation if required. Hearing evaluation started with Transient Evoked Oto Acoustic Emission (TEOAE) and results showed as bilateral REFER. The team explained us that, the results show inadequate response from the ear and proceeded with further diagnostic testing with Brainstem Evoked Response Audiometry (BSERA). BSERA also suggested “Bilateral profound hearing loss” , then they counseled on the line of management and Hearing aid trial, fitting to be the first part followed by intensive speech therapy.
We visited and got a pair of hearing aid fitted by a Central Government Teaching Institute. Then we started attending therapy sessions at Ear to Hear – MVF, Gandhi hospital centre. We see that the team is working tirelessly all the days to provide high quality of services even though it is for FREE of cost. I am satisfied with the progress my daughter is having in terms of speech development. On behalf my family I wish the Team all the very best and wish them to continue the work for this noble cause.
With regards,
Afreen and MD Yousuf Khan