I had an extremely rewarding 23-year career as an audiologist that took me around different parts of Canada, including way up North to Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories, as well as to Kuwait, England, and Saudi Arabia. I joined a Canadian healthcare team and moved to Kuwait in January 1998 with two small children in tow. My hubby, who was always a teacher, joined us in July 1998 after the school year in Canada had ended. While in Kuwait, I wrote 'And So, Ahmed Hears'. Written completely in rhyme, I wrote this book to try and increase public awareness about childhood hearing loss and the importance of early diagnosis. The book was first published in 2008 by Widex Canada, a large hearing aid company. For several years, the book was available for free to families in Canada. I was approached by a number of people asking how they could purchase the book so I asked Widex if I could have the book republished and available for sale. They gave me the go ahead and in January 2018 the book was republished by Pen It! Publications. In the fall of 2019, I was in touch with the Hearing Health Foundation in the United States, wondering if there was a way to share my book with families of hearing-impaired children as well as others concerned about childhood hearing loss. They were interested and featured a story about my career as an audiologist in their Winter 2020 edition of the magazine. You can read the full article here:
https://view.publitas.com/p222-4764/hearing-health-winter-2020-issue/page/34-35
Please feel free to share with friends, family, or anyone you know who has firsthand experience with childhood hearing loss. Hearing loss affects children worldwide. The benefits of early diagnosis and early intervention/habilitation are well-known and yet still many children are diagnosed well past the critical period for speech and language development.