River is a fun, energetic, happy toddler. He is active, adventurous, rambunctious, and resilient. He brings people together and spreads joy everywhere he goes. River was identified hard of hearing at birth thanks to the newborn hearing screening (a huge blessing), otherwise, we might not have known for a lot longer. Many parents of children with hearing loss have shared that they didn’t notice a difference in their child until around 18 months. These first few months are such a sensitive time for natural language acquisition and learning. With the first failed hearing test, I knew we would have to hit the ground running to make sure that River did not skip a beat.
Our journey started with a referral to an Ear Nose & Throat specialist and many reassurances as we left the hospital that it was more than likely amniotic fluid and probably nothing. I wish we had a more realistic idea of the journey we were about to face. He kept failing the hearing screenings and we were referred to UNM Hospital eventually for a diagnostic Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test, but scheduling was a nightmare and even though medical professionals were recommending hearing aids at 4 months or sooner, they had us scheduled out 6 months for diagnostic screening.
Having a new baby is a challenging experience in and of itself and on top of that, the stress and grief of facing the challenging road ahead without having to medically advocate in the first few weeks were daunting. We had a fire hose’s worth of information and emotions thrown at us almost at once: referrals, appointments, not knowing if he had more serious underlying issues, not having a diagnosis, finding a private practice for a diagnostic ABR before 6 months, getting him into hearing aids by 4 months was overwhelming, to say the least. We cried, we clapped next to River’s ears to “test” his hearing (denial). It was an emotional coming to terms with River’s unique journey.
“As we struggled to advocate for River’s medical needs and process the emotional aspect, I really appreciated the diligence of our Las Cumbres Service Coordinator to get back in touch, she didn’t stop trying. ”
We appreciate all of the doctors and medical professionals that helped River along the way but we struggled with the lack of insight from the medical side of things as to how to actually deal with this as parents after the arrival of hearing aids. I was so overwhelmed with all of the information and emotions and a service coordinator persistently kept leaving messages. We finally returned the call and her explanation of the FIT Early Intervention Program with Las Cumbres was exactly what we needed. I love that I didn’t have to continue looking for assistance during this difficult time. Las Cumbres came into our family and opened up our world to the “what to do after the hearing aids.” Once we finally connected our Las Cumbres specialist set us up with a home visit immediately in the Early Intervention Program, with Las Cumbres bringing a wealth of resources to my doorstep.
We were given the opportunity to not only meet other families but also to share our story, which has felt very healing to assure new families that they’ve got this! It helped me find reassurance that we are River’s parents for a reason, he chose us, he is teaching us new things and seeing the world through his eyes has given our family a new perspective on life and living.
This experience was about more than just the devices, it was about access to language and communication with our son and supporting the whole child. We would have to learn American Sign Language (ASL) and focus on Speech Therapy to provide an overlap of language access. We would need Physical Therapy to support his balance and spacial awareness. As parents, we would have to work hard so he wouldn’t have to. The Early Intervention Program made this easy for us to accomplish.
“I strongly encourage parents in situations like ours to take advantage of the services this support system has to offer. We are blessed to have this resource in our state and available to families at no cost.”
I strongly encourage parents in situations like ours to take advantage of the services this support system has to offer. We are blessed to have this resource in our state and available to families at no cost. We are also very lucky to have access to New Mexico School for the Deaf (NMSD) and the deaf community as it has been like adopting a new family and has made embracing River’s culture easy and fun for our family. The program helped us to get River into the 18-24 month class at NMSD, and in that environment River blossomed with a confidence in his language, interacting with his peers and adults acknowledging his chosen language, ASL. Our family has also taken advantage of the ASL classes, immersion weeks, and family to family weekends, baby bunch class (for River’s little sister), and on-campus themed playgroup events. He was suddenly thriving with a social scene all his own.
Las Cumbres’ Early Intervention Program provided our family with a team of professionals, opportunities for education and counseling, introduced us to a community of other families, children and adults sharing their similar experiences to River’s, and an abundance of information to support us in making our own educated decisions for our child. They integrated our services with those provided at the school. As a parent, I was the designer/director of the team. I helped to design his Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) and set our goals and schedules so that everything we were doing fit in with our family schedule and with constant regard for making sure this was not an overwhelming experience.
Our IFSP was a plan that focused on supporting both River, and our family as a whole, with language and social, emotional development, and also with careful attention to my priorities as a parent and our family culture. I have used the word SUPPORT throughout this testimonial because it is the one word I would use to describe the program. As we prepare for River to transition out of the program and into the NMSD preschool environment, I can confidently say that I now feel completely equipped to supplement our daily activities with enrichment and access to language. I am the proud parent of a hard of hearing child and I know I am doing everything I can to support him and help him thrive as he grows.
~ Kristin Mora, River’s Mother
“This kiddo, River, truly has touched the lives of many with his sweet disposition, curiosity, and spunky energy that he brings to every visit (whether in person or virtual). It’s been a pleasure getting to know him and his family, and it’s given me a sense of pride for the teamwork from NMSD and LCCS providers alike to empower the family. (He has absolutely flourished in the year I’ve worked with him!) Kristin is also self-motivated, creative, and inspiring in the way she parents River and her kids, which has given me a ton of invaluable perspective in the way I support families and their little ones.”