Parent/Infant Program

The earlier an infant with hearing loss is identified, amplified and enrolled in an appropriate intervention program, the greater the child's opportunity to successfully acquire spoken language and speech intelligibility. With newborn hearing screening, newborns and infants are being identified early on, and amplified when possible to give them access to sound. This makes it possible for them to develop listening skills before a significant skill discrepancy presents itself between children with normal hearing and children with hearing loss (Barnes, 2004

hear ME now! offers a parent/infant program to assist with the education of infants who are deaf or hearing impaired. The main goal of the program is to enable parents and caregivers to use language within their daily routine. The program consists of two contacts a week, each an hour long. One contact is a home visit, where a teacher of the deaf comes to the home and works as a language coach for both the caregiver and the child. The teacher helps the parent develop sound and language routines that the caregiver can use to enrich the child’s everyday environment. The other weekly contact is a speech/language therapy session in a home-like environment, where the family comes into the school to work with a speech/language therapist on developmental language and communication goals

The other major component of the parent/infant program is parent education and support. Monthly meetings are held to present crucial information to the parent or caregiver. Topics such as skill development, physical development, educational procedures and parental rights are offered to inform the parent of various topics. There are also organized times for parents to offer support to one another and to share experiences that may help others. The road we travel is not always smooth, and having fellow travelers who are at different stages in the journey can give comfort, hope and encouragement.

Recognizing that parents and caregivers have the most impact on each child’s growth, hear ME now! comes alongside to offer information, strategies and support. Joining the team of caregivers, audiologists and other professionals, our goal is to ensure short term and long term success in the hearing world for each child with hearing loss.

For more information contact:
Pamela Dawson, M.Ed.
Executive Director
hear ME now!
PO Box 896
Portland, ME 04104
Phone:(207) 688-4544
www.hear-me-now.org