PARENT RESOURCES
When your child is diagnosed with hearing loss, it can be a stressful time when you are inundated with new information. As parents, relatives and professionals who work with deaf/hard of hearing children, FHSR is uniquely aware of the challenges families face throughout their journey with pediatric hearing loss. For over 70 years, we have been dedicated to providing support to both the child and the family through our wrap around services.Â
New Parent Resource Downloads Now Available!
Developed by Dr. Anna Tess, our Education Coordinator, our Education Resources deliver valuable insights and information. All downloads are available in English and Spanish.
- The Parent Resource Guide has information about parent rights, the IEP process, accommodations and modifications for children with hearing loss, and 504 plans.
- The Early Literacy Guide provides strategies and information to help you read with your child.
- Additional resources include Milestones and Deaf with Disability.
FHSR’s Education Coordinator sent us some helpful documents, including information about what to ask for in our IEP/504 plan. And she also answered all of our questions that we don’t have another place to get answered. If I had a friend with a child this age, with hearing loss, who had just gone through this, I would call and ask them, but I don’t have that – I have [FHSR]. Â
– Leigh-Ann is the mother of a young son with hearing loss.
1.3.6 Awareness Campaign for Early Detection & Intervention
One key test that happens the day after your baby is born in Illinois is the Newborn Hearing Screening. A nurse will come and take the baby for a painless test to determine if the child has any hearing loss. This test is the first step on a child’s hearing journey.
Some babies don’t pass this exam. This means they need to be tested again to determine if their hearing loss is something that will resolve on its own or if intervention is necessary. In fact, close to 90% of all babies who fail their Newborn Hearing Screening will pass when they are re-tested. For the other 10%, not passing could mean your baby has some level of hearing loss.Â
The follow-up screening is vital to determine if your baby has hearing loss – early detection and intervention is crucial for your baby’s future.
AGES AND STAGES
FHSR’s Ages and Stages resources were developed by parents for parents, alongside experts in hearing loss, audiology, music therapy and speech/language therapy. Ages and Stages offers resources and a “roadmap” for each stage in your child’s development, from birth through high school graduation.
EXPLORE OUR UNIQUE PROGRAMMING
FHSR offers programs to meet the educational, clinical, and social needs of children with any level of hearing loss.Â
FHSR music programming encompasses tuition-free enrichment classes, individual instrument lessons, school-based programs and music therapy – all working together to give a deaf or hard of hearing child every opportunity for a successful music journey.
The overarching goal of FHSR is to create a community for families in Illinois who have children with hearing loss. We offer free family events throughout the year, and partner with local audiology clinics to make sure no child is without access to the world of soung.
We work to create and fund unique education programs that help parents at each age & stage of their deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) child’s life, from early literacy programming to IEP/504 support throughout a child’s school years.
ADDITIONAL PARENT SERVICES & ORGANIZATIONS
HELPFUL LINKS
Device Manufacturers
BE A PART OF OUR COMPASSIONATE COMMUNITY.
Change the life of a child with hearing loss.
Every contribution to FHSR helps provide free, high-quality resources to children with hearing loss —and the parents and professionals who support them every day.
Thank you for making a gift to FHSR. Thank you for changing lives.
