When parents discipline their children for not paying attention, sometimes they need to check if the root cause may not be intentional disobedience, but instead hearing loss.
The Lions Club of Ipoh Evergreen, helmed by KPJ Ipoh Specialist Hospital audiologist Sylvia Lee, hopes to carry this message of awareness to the public so that early intervention will help the child before it becomes a behavioural issue. Sylvia took office as the club’s 21st President recently, and hearing awareness is one of the club’s core projects for the year.
With support from Best Hearing Aid Centre and GN Resound, 28 sets of sponsored hearing aids are available for free to deserving children from B40 families.
In a recent case, an 11-year-old boy was found to have only 10 percent hearing ability in his left ear and 50 percent in his right ear. As there was a long waiting list at the government hospital, the Lions Club of Ipoh Evergreen decided to help as the child has been suffering from poor academic results unknowingly because of the hearing loss.
“The grandmother said that his teachers had been scolding him and labelling him a slow learner when in actual fact, his hearing problem was the main issue,” Sylvia said.
Other signs to look out for include delayed speech, frequent runny nose, sneezing, sore throat and allergy, poor pronunciation, or sounding like one is tongue-tied.
As the pandemic forced more parents to stay home, there is an increasing awareness as previously, teachers and caregivers do not pay that close attention to a child.
Parents and teachers are invited to contact the Lions Club of Ipoh Evergreen for an appointment to bring their child to KPJ Ipoh Specialist Hospital for a free assessment.
The last date to apply for the aid is on August 15, 2021. For more information, contact Catherine SA (016-531 6343) or Katherine Tuen (018-225 3098). Sylvia can be contacted via her email, audiosylvia@gmail.com .
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