Hearing impaired have a voice

By Lauren Radomski | The Daily Journal

Published 12:00 p.m., September 18, 2007

When Shannon Hohrman of Fergus Falls learned her 6-month-old son Nicholas was deaf, she benefited from the insight of a friend, another parent of a deaf child.

Now, seven years later, Hohrman is using her experience to help area families as a regional parent guide with Minnesota Hands and Voices, a nonprofit organization out of St. Paul.

“What I do basically is I’m here for the parents,” said Hohrman, explaining that many parents feel overwhelmed upon learning of a child’s hearing loss. Parents must decide what’s best for their child, whether its obtaining a cochlear implant, learning sign language or investing in another option.

“I try to give them an unbiased opinion and help them decide what’s best for their family,” Hohrman said. “I want them to know that I’m there and I understand what they’re going through because I’ve been there.”

As the parent guide for northwest Minnesota — including the communities of Alexandria, Fergus Falls, Detroit Lakes and Moorhead — Hohrman connects parents with one another, matching families where there is a similar degree of hearing loss. Ideally, the relationship between these families will function as a kind of support system.

From there, Hohrman said she lets parents dictate how her relationship with them evolves. She avoids being pushy but lets them know she’s a resource for the long-term.

“I don’t want to just make one contact and let them go,” she said.

Hohrman, a regional guide for a year and a half, also organizes social events for families in the area, such as a recent potluck in Grotto Park. These kinds of gatherings — which Hohrman funds out of pocket — give parents yet another opportunity to learn from one another.

“Parents feel isolated a lot of times and especially in the smaller, rural areas,” she said. “We all have a little bit different situation so we can all draw from each other.”

Perhaps more importantly, social events can give deaf children a sense of camaraderie.

“It’s good for the kids to know ‘I’m not the only one,’” Hohrman said.

Nicholas, now a second grader, received a cochlear implant at age four and also uses American Sign Language (ASL). Hohrman and her husband Jeff took ASL classes when they were offered through Community Education, and their son Thomas,17, is particularly fluent.

An interpreter accompanies Nicholas throughout the school day at Adams Elementary, where he meets with a speech pathologist and a deaf/hard-of-hearing teacher. He spends most of his day in a class with peers who can hear, classmates who have shown support and understanding over the years.

“His kindergarten class learned sign, which was really neat and it really made Nicholas feel like he was part of the class,” Hohrman said.

Thanks to legislation passed in May, Minnesota now has the strongest set of statutes in the country for newborns who are deaf or hard of hearing. According to the Minnesota Commission Serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing People, the state now requires hospitals to add hearing screening to the list of tests performed on newborns, with the results reported to the Minnesota Department of Health. The MDH can then follow up with the parents of babies who did not pass their screenings, referring them to resources like Hohrman.

In addition to the MDH, Hohrman receives referrals from area audiologists and teachers, among others. She can be reached at fsc@lifetrackresources.org.

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