Here is an example of how our Vietnam program is reaping benefits for young children with hearing loss and their families. It started with our pediatric audiology training program this week in Da Nang when our Vietnamese audiology technicians had the opportunity to work with a 8 month old baby newly identified with hearing loss. The baby was fit with new hearing aids provided by the Global Foundation during our audiology practicum. But hearing aids alone are not enough.
The challenge is that the family lives in an area with limited professional support in audiology and speech therapy to help this baby make use of his new hearing aids to process sounds and learn to listen and talk.
One of the Vietnamese therapists we have trained over the years in Auditory-Verbal Therapy is here with us in Da Nang as a trainer. She has offered to provide therapy assistance to the family of the baby via Internet tools. But even better is her willingness to serve as mentor to one of the therapists enrolled in this week’s AVT training program who happens to live in the family’s town. This emerging therapist will help the family develop the baby’s language locally in the town where they live with the support of the more advanced Vietnamese therapist trained by the Global Foundation.
In addition, the family will receive audiology support from the audiology technicians we have been training in Da Nang. It is exciting that this baby will have the support he needs to benefit fully from hearing aids!