15
When I was pregnant with
Chantel I knew that I was
at a high risk of having her
early because my son was
premature.
on track. We discovered that
she had a learning disability –
she understands everything but
she just has problems putting it
all together.
Chantel didn’t walk until she
Sure enough, Chantel arrived was 18 months old and she had
hearing and speech difficulties.
around 13 weeks too soon, by
She went to a special nursery
emergency Caesarean and
only weighing two pounds. She and to speech therapy and this
helped her to go to a normal
was one of the first babies to
survive at such an early age – a primary school and secondary
school, although she had extra
prototype, if you like! She was
placed in the Special Care Baby tuition. It was hard finding
out what help and support
Unit and relied on a ventilator
we could get for her from the
to help her breathe.
authorities and fighting for
Luckily there were no signs
what she was due has been the
of physical disabilities, and
hardest part of this experience.
when she first came
Meeting other parents of
home she seemed a
normal, happy baby. It children with disabilities, often
at hospital clinics, has been
wasn’t until she was
wonderful. Through them I
nine or ten months
could dare to hope that Chantel
old that we realised
would live a fairly normal life as
her development wasn’t
I heard how their stories turned
out. They also could pass on
tips about what to ask for and
where to look for information.
Being Chantel’s mum hasn’t
been easy. When she was first
born, I was too scared to bond
with her because I was terrified
that she would die.
But when she was nearly two
years old, the bonding process
began and now you can’t stop
me talking about her! She won
an award for ‘best achieving
student’ after passing an NVQ
in horse management at a
specialist college and she’s
just taken a BTEC first diploma
in horse care. It’s been the
making of her. I am so proud
of what she has achieved and I
will tell anyone who will listen
to me what a wonderful and
special young lady she is!
Alex was born with severe
hearing loss after a very
normal pregnancy and birth.
Alex now has
a very busy
life. He attends
Windrush Valley
School in Ascottunder-Wychwood and the
small classes make a perfect
learning environment for
him. He also has singing and
drumming lessons and has
just been awarded his green
belt for karate. To meet Alex,
you’d have no idea that he has
a severe hearing impairment.
Our experience overall
has been positive. I’ve been
determined throughout the
whole process, never taken
no for an answer if I felt there
were alternatives and I’ve
dug deep to look for those
alternatives. We’ve had ups and
downs and at times frustration
and desperation, but now,
looking back, I wouldn’t have
changed a thing.
There was no indication that
there might be problems and
there is no family history of
hearing problems.
By the time Alex was three
months old, my ex-husband
and I both thought he might
have hearing difficulties as
he did not respond to some
of the normal sounds in the
home, such as the doorbell,
the hoover or the clatter of
saucepans and dishes.
I phoned our heath visitor and
she made an appointment with
a paediatric audiologist. After
a couple of appointments, it
became clear that Alex had
a severe hearing loss and he
was fitted with his first pair of
tiny hearing aids.
We were devastated at first
that our ‘perfect’ baby had
a disability – and I used to
remove Alex’s hearing aids
when we went out because I
didn’t want other people seeing
them. We had regular contact
with the Radcliffe Paediatric
Audiology Department and
the Oxfordshire Hearing
Support Service and both were
great, although we had to pay
privately for digital hearing aids
(luckily these are now provided
free on the NHS).
As Alex got older, speech
and language therapy
became important so we did
a lot of research and came
across The Oxford AuditoryVerbal Programme (www.
auditoryverbal.org.uk), which is
a charity that helps children of
all ages with their speech and
language.