Title of the case study: Nova
General data on the case:
- Biographical and case identification data – Nova is a 3-year-old girl who was born deaf. Parents are both hearing. They are both musicians and own a music school. She has no siblings.
- Case history (Anamnesis):
- Significant medical data – hearing loss detected by Neonatal Hearing Screening;
- Significant psychological data – at the beginning, Nova had difficulties getting adapted. She took the implants off and threw them across the room. Her language development is on the same level as that of normal hearing children. Music is important for Nova. She likes to dance and sing. She distinguishes small differences in sound.
- Educational setting: full mainstreaming.
- Significant social data – parents are very aware of their daughter’s condition but they don’t see it as something negative. Deciding for implants wasn’t easy for them. Although they live in a musical environment, they don’t want to give their child a feeling of being disabled. At the moment they approach music differently. They look for new possibilities instead of being limited by the impossible. They have learned to listen differently; they also listen with their eyes now.
- Age of fitting the first hearing aids and cochlear implants: 9 months
- How often and what kind of support/rehabilitation does the child/family receive? At the moment neither Nova nor her parents receive any extra support.
The implantation
- age when undergoing first cochlear implantation (left or right side): 9 months
- type of implant: bilateral implant
- current average duration of the CI use (information from the audiologists): all waking hours of the day
What is the procedure for starting speech therapy after CI?
After implantation, the speech and language therapist of the CI team starts the hearing training. This is the official rehabilitation program. Parents do not need to do anything for this; it is standard procedure.
The Speech Therapy used in the rehabilitation
The therapy is the standard rehabilitation hearing training, given by the speech and language therapist involved in the CI team. Sessions are more frequent at the beginning of the program and then their number decreases as therapy progresses.
Results
Strengths
- bilateral implant at a young age
- motivating parents, being aware of the disability
- standard rehabilitation at a young age
- parental guidance
Opportunities
- the support programs used
- the engagement of the family