2018.06.30
Because of topographic and transportation limitations, Hualien, located in the eastern part of Taiwan, has relatively scarce resources.In just 10 years ago, Hualien was still lack of any sort of resources for hearing loss early intervention.
Let Children with Hearing Loss in Hualien Stay in Hualien
The turning point for families with children with hearing loss in Hualien was in 2009 when Children’s Hearing Foundation (CHF) reached out to hospitals and early intervention institutes to look for families that needed help in Hualien. Since 2010, CHF has sent an auditory-verbal specialist from our Yilan center to Hualien City every week, helping children with hearing loss learn to hear and speak.
Before CHF, there was no organization dedicated to helping children with hearing loss in Hualien; only hospitals and early intervention institutes provided speech therapy services. However, to help children with hearing loss learn to speak, it is necessary to begin with learning to hear. The method for helping children with hearing loss learn to speak is quite different from speech therapy. Currently CHF remains the only organization providing one-to-one auditory-verbal intervention sessions in Hualien.
Even with Difficulties, CHF Is Determined to Serve in Hualien
To find a proper teaching space in Hualien, CHF faced many challenges. In the past two years, our location has changed five times for various reasons. Since 2017, Yu-Ping Chang, the director of CHF Yilan Center, tried everything to secure an appropriate location. Families that CHF served in Hualien once had to travel far to Yi-Lan Center for their auditory-verbal sessions. Finally, Taiwan Early Intervention Association was willing to offer a space in its Jian Township location, and CHF has finally settled down in Hualien. Families with children with hearing loss no longer have to move around or travel far.
Currently, auditory-verbal specialists of CHF Yilan Center teach at Jian twice a week. Each specialist can provide sessions for four families per day. Ms. Chang said, “11 children with hearing loss are now attending auditory-verbal sessions regularly every one or two weeks.” In addition to these children, those already with strong auditory-verbal communication abilities also return occasionally to receive evaluations by auditory-verbal specialists.
Different Services Adapted to the Needs of Each Family
Because Hualien stretches far from north to south, even though we provide services in Jian Township, there remain many families in the southern part of Hualien whom we are unable to reach. CHF plans to cooperate with local organizations in the future to provide auditory-verbal sessions in Rueisuei Township, which is much closer to the southern end of Hualien than Jian. Ms. Chang said, “If families don’t have to go too far, they are more willing to take children to the sessions regularly.”
In addition to providing auditory-verbal sessions in regular locations, CHF has developed home tutoring services and auditory-verbal tele-practice sessions to accommodate various needs. Ms. Chang gave us an example: A child was suffering from immune disorder and was unable to go out. CHF specialists went to the child’s home in this case and in other cases when parents lack the proper skills to teach their children at home. When a family has special needs, CHF will evaluate the situation and provide adequate resources according to the specific condition of the family.
Innovative Services Developed Based on the Needs
Over the years, Ms. Chang has found that many parents of children with hearing loss lack sufficient mental support. Therefore, she began to organize support groups for parents. She was very happy to see some experienced parents encouraging new parents and interacting with one another, which helps motivate new parents to guide their children to learn to listen and speak.
Ms. Chang has also found that some parents are not eager to search for information or, if they are, the information they find tends to be disorganized. To improve the situation, Ms. Chang and her team are developing a new plan, aiming to work with local social workers to visit homes and convey correct information to parents. In addition, the CHF team also plans to arrange auditory-verbal specialists to visit homes with speech therapists from other organizations to integrate the auditory-verbal approach into early intervention services for children with hearing loss. CHF hopes to broaden and tighten the safety net for children with hearing loss in Hualien.
Starting from ground zero requires sufficient backup support. Thanks to generous donations from many supporters as well as subsidies from the Hualien government, various expenses can be covered, and CHF can continue to offer auditory-verbal services in Hualien. We hope that children with hearing loss in Hualien can therefore learn stably and proceed toward the goal of listening and speaking fluently.
