Hearing loss can impact a person’s quality of life. Imagine how difficult it is to respond to people or join a conversation when you can’t hear anything. Your circle becomes limited because you can only interact with individuals who know how to communicate with you.

“Individuals who are deaf face challenges both similar and unique from those faced by hearing individuals when a family member is dying,” Karen A. Kehl, PhD, RN, ACHPN says.

Have you decided to start looking for a therapist as soon as possible? Do you think that it is time for you to confront your mental health issues and seek the help of a professional? Are you afraid of how this professional engagement may turn out, especially if you are not aware of how to do it right? In this article, we are going to provide you with some tips and tricks on how you can deal with a therapist during your first few sessions.

Before anything else, the first step that you must do is to look for an excellent mental health professional who has a good record in your industry. As much as possible, find someone that you can trust so that you will not have a hard time dealing with him. Otherwise, you will only regret your decision of getting therapy. The sessions or meetings may not be fruitful as expected if you fail to select the best therapist in your local community. Because of this, it is best if you will take all the time you need for the selection process to ensure that you will not commit any mistake.

“A good therapist, however you find them, is gold,” shares Don Turner, MD, a private practice psychiatrist in Atlanta. “A good therapist is non judgemental, accepting, and patient. Otherwise, our patients are just getting what they grew up with.”

Check the rest of the article to find out the different ways on how you can deal with a therapist in the right manner. Here are some of the things that you must know:

Talk About The Terms

The first step that you must never forget to settle is to discuss the terms and conditions of your engagement with the therapist. Do not hesitate to ask questions in availing of the professional services. As much as possible, learn about the fees necessary as well as the payment terms available. Aside from this, you must also be able to discuss the frequency of your meetings. Take note that it is best to avail of the trial services provided by some therapists so that you can make the an informed and correct decision. The terms of your contract with the said professional matters a lot.

Be Honest At All Times

If you want to make your relationship with a therapist work, it is crucial on your part to remain honest no matter what happens. Keep in mind that all communications made to a therapist are highly confidential. This means that you can tell anything you want to the said professional without the risk of disclosure.

“I indicated why some people tell the particular stories they do: to make themselves more interesting in general and, in particular, to have interesting symptoms; to make themselves seem better: more intelligent and more capable; to explain away and justify failures, to put one over the psychiatrist, who may present himself as preternaturally wise; to gossip about others; and to distract from the ordinary business of life which is usually the source of most patients’ distress, but which is painful to contemplate because it is so intractable. In sum, people lie to cover up an unpleasant picture that they have of themselves,” Fredric Neuman, MD, shares.

Under the state laws, a therapist is prohibited from revealing any form of information that it derives during therapy sessions. Failure to observe this law can cause for the revocation of their license. These laws were enacted to ensure that clients or patients could confide freely to the therapist. However, the rules also mandate that any confession regarding the commission of a future crime will not be included in the privileged communication. Aside from this, the notes of therapists may not be brought as evidence in any case, unless a court issues a subpoena.

Ask For Clarifications

There are many things that you can learn from a therapist during your sessions. Some of these items may not be clear to you, which is why you must never have second thoughts in asking for clarifications. Keep in mind that it is absolutely okay to request your mental health professional expert to explain some terms clearly to you. Stop thinking that you are always helpless. If something is bothering you, bring it up, and have a truthful communication with a therapist. Once you can do all these things, you will be surprised to find out that attending therapy is not as difficult as what other people say. All you have to do is to ask the right questions.

Be Responsible

Just because you are a client does not mean that everything will go according to what you plan or intend to do. Keep in mind that a therapist has many things to do on his plate. As such, you cannot expect him to give you a lot of time in a given day. Make sure that you respect the allotted time given to you. Check your calendar and see if you have a meeting with a therapist. It is highly recommended that you go to the therapist’s clinic ahead of time. At the same time, be courteous enough to call the office to inform the front desk office if you wish to cancel your meeting or appointment. It is best to do it ahead of time so that you will not encounter any problem at all.

“You know therapy is working if you are doing the skills you have learned in session outside of session and seeing that it works or helps. There might be working if you are able to set better boundaries, trust yourself and your decisions without reassurance seeking, validate yourself and others, or prioritize your needs and demands in a more balanced way,” Jessica Dyer, LCSW, staff counselor at Washington University in St. Louis, says.

What are you waiting for? Start your search for the best therapist now, and remember the items mentioned above.

Hearing impairment is called a disability because it shows a distinctive portion of physical disadvantage. It also easily gets connected to social and environmental issues. In some instances, it even appears listed in the community’s not-so-interesting matter. But for someone who experiences the difficulty of hearing disability, it means more than just a physical complication. Therefore, every intervention of medication and therapy online becomes crucial.

The Stigma

“Some people have partial hearing loss, meaning that the ear can pick up some sounds; others have complete hearing loss, meaning that the ear cannot hear at all (people with complete hearing loss are considered deaf). In some types of hearing loss, a person can have much more trouble when there is background noise,” Thierry Morlet, PhD shares.

A lot of people do not appear to understand the struggle of having a sensory condition. Most of them assume that when a person is deaf, he becomes useless for particular reasons. With that, they often feel sorry for the individual with hearing impairment. They didn’t know that the person can stay focus, become happy, and reach contentment in life. With the help of loved ones and people who understand his situation, he can flawlessly perform, function, and contribute something to society. Yes, no one can immediately know when someone is deaf. Perhaps that’s the primary reason why a lot of people don’t try to accommodate it. Therefore, it is not entirely their fault too.

Hearing impairment is a hidden disability, and that is something a lot of people often ignore. They don’t try and imagine how hard it is for someone to communicate or have an exchange of conversation per se. There’s the feeling of alienation everywhere, and the mentality drives the individual into a deep and lonely state. That even if he tries so hard to settle and understand things around him, that person will never feel the same as to everyone else around him. Yes, several institutions and community may process anti-discrimination and equal opportunity, but not all of them are willing to accept someone who they think is going to become a burden at some point. Somehow, there is still an inflicted doubt that a hearing-impaired person can work and progress normally like others.

Why The Condition Is Mentally And Emotionally Exhausting

“Growing up, I rarely used the phone, because I could not understand,” Samuel R. Atcherson, PhD, recalls his childhood dilemma of being diagnosed with mild hearing loss. “This affected my social life considerably, and I certainly had moments of feeling isolated.”

The hardest and saddest part of having a disability is acceptance. A lot of people tend to avoid a hearing-impaired person because they believe it is not worth to spend time knowing and communicating. With that, the buildup of emotional and mental turmoil escalates quickly. In some unfortunate events, it promotes anxiety and depression. It becomes too much to deal with and uninteresting to handle. It is understandable that the process of communicating with a hearing-impaired individual can sometimes become way too stressful and exhausting. That’s because a lot of people may find it too overwhelming even to attempt to begin with connecting.

“Hearing loss also contributes to social isolation. You may not want to be with people as much, and when you are, you may not engage in conversation as much,” Frank Lin, M.D., Ph.D, Director of Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, reveals.

With fortunate circumstances along with the help of technology, there are better ways to deal with the situation. There’s the invention of hearing aids, therapy for listening and speech, sign language, and so on. But even though there are these helpful tools and techniques that are supposed to bridge the gap between communications, it is still not working fully. The societal impact of hearing disability still locks people into thinking that the condition is way off their radar. They don’t recognize that there is so much more a person can do even if he is currently on that state.

Final Thought

For an individual who finds himself battling with the stigma of having a sensory disability, it is an unfortunate circumstance. However, it should not have to dominate and should create a massive influence on life instead. Since it is going to stick around for the person’s entire existence, he should learn to look at it as something that will keep himself holding on. The person should develop resilience, emotional and mental toughness to make a better response. There is no reason to sit and restrict life experiences just because of a disability. There must be an understanding that despite the situation, the individual must look at all the aspect of who he is. That way, he can confidently tell the world that his defying condition will only allow him to grow and improve.

With a lot of social and environmental issues a deaf person encounter almost every day, it’s not easy. But as long as we understand, support, and believe in their capabilities, we are making significant progress in providing them a world without judgment.

Sensory integration is how the central nervous system receives messages from the senses. The information gets used by an individual so he can process behavioral or motor response. Since there’s a lot of bombarded information from the five senses, the nervous system needs to organize it so that a person’s reaction matches the signaling message.

Pioneering psychologist, occupational therapist, and neuroscientist A. Jean Ayres, Ph.D. likened this dysfunction to a “neurological traffic jam that prevents certain parts of the brain from receiving the information needed to interpret sensory information correctly.”

Therefore, when there is sensory processing dysfunction, neural signals tend to tangle and become unorganized. The term sensory processing disorder or SPD is not currently recognized as mental health or medical condition that stands on its own. That’s the reason why people won’t find it listed on any diagnostic manuals.

“The disorder, however, isn’t officially recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition. Instead of its own disorder, many doctors and experts believe sensory issues are a component of another condition or disorder.” Karen Richardson Gill, MD, FAAP, explains.

So, what is it? What are the damages it can do to a person? How can we treat it?

All About The Condition

When an individual experiences a sensory processing disorder, he will not be able to respond to his senses immediately. There is a tendency that the individual can get confused about what he’s hearing, tasting, seeing, touching, and smelling. Everything becomes extremely overwhelming. In some case of events, the condition may only affect one sense. But it can also harm many senses as well. And every person with the disorder may react and behave differently depending on their sensory dysfunction. There is a collection of different intensity and responses to stimuli. With that, some individuals may or may not have an overreaction to stimuli. Overreaction includes throwing a tantrum, vomiting, screaming, and an outburst. And with those people with under-reaction, they will barely respond or feel physical touch or may not cover their ears when there’s a loud noise around. The condition supports both over and under responses. Therefore, not every individual is going to act the same.

The condition is way too complicated than most people think. That’s perhaps the reason why it mainly gets attributed to ASD or autism spectrum disorder. With that, many professionals believe that this information needs to change and should be included in diagnostic manuals as a stand-alone condition. Though in general, a lot of its symptoms are relatable to various phobias, misophonia, ADHD, schizophrenia, PTSD, and even borderline personality disorder. With that, it is essential to note that the condition is not something that all professional health experts can easily understand. Therefore, it’s best to find someone who knows and specializes in sensory issues along with its types.

The Types Of Sensory Processing Disorder

• Sensory Discrimination Disorder – It is the type of sensory processing disorder that contains difficulty in accurately identifying qualities of stimuli. Individuals with this state may use little or too much force when doing something. Most of the time, they break something without realizing that they exerted too much strength. Some may also struggle in picking items, particularly in a cluttered area. Some may even move too slow or too fast in doing certain activities.
• Sensory Modulation Disorder – It is characterized by an individual’s struggle to regulate the intensity of response to sensory stimuli. Meaning, a person with this condition tends to hate textures in some food; they sometimes hate brushing their teeth and find it uninteresting to manage their hair. Note that the things they often hate are not at all upsetting to most people. Usually, only these individuals view, smell, feel, and see common things differently.
• Postural Ocular Disorder – It is a state where a person struggles to manage visual and bodily movements. Therefore, an individual has a hard time balancing their body, tracking items in their eye line, and strive to control the amount of strength needed in completing a specific task. There are also cases that a person may not identify which of his hands are dominant and which is not.
• Dyspraxia – It’s a sensory processing dysfunction that makes a person struggle with planning, scheduling, and executing things in sequence. It entirely makes everything complicated and hard to do daily. It gets difficult to move to a specific task to another due to less excellent motor coordination.

As for the cause of SPD, people and experts don’t know. Therefore, extensive research and study must be done to understand the condition thoroughly.

“Symptoms are apparent in only about ten percent of the population and two percent may show severe symptoms. There is no cure for dyspraxia but an early diagnosis and therapy means greater chances of improvement,” Dr. Ananya Mandal, MD, reveals.

Fortunately, there is a recommended treatment available to manage the disorder. There’s occupational therapy where it encourages rehabilitation through the focus of an individual’s performance of activities. With that, it creates a better and meaningful engagement that helps sustain a person’s daily life.

When you enroll your child to various forms of therapy online to ensure that they are ready for school, you should also start teaching them how to read. It’s not about their age, you see. Everything is about the developmental process of your son or daughter.

For instance, do they get enough physical activities every day? Can they sit still in a chair, hold a pencil without concentrated effort, or track the words on the board and copy them onto paper? Is your child able to communicate well?

Considering you are still unaware of it, you should know that learning how to read through the computer is entirely out of the question.

Importance Of Reading Books

You see, if you don’t get the reading thing right, and consequently raise a child who dislikes the activity, many doors will shut for him. As evidence shows, homeschooling is no guarantee you will get it right. I talk to homeschooling parents whose children don’t enjoying reading because of simple mistakes that, had they known otherwise, would have been easy to avoid. In simple words, that is a tragedy.

Assuming your child is developmentally ready, it’s time to train them with real books. Though you may find them adding to the clutter in your home at first, it is more prudent to spend money on quality hardback classic novels that your kids can take pride in owning than fancy phonics programs. The latter, you see, might be more confusing than useful.

Where To Start?

1. Lay Out The Basics

To begin, you must teach your child the alphabet and letter sounds.

“The approach that proved most effective was based on phonics-teaching children how to sound words out, letter by letter, rather than encouraging students to recognize words as single chunks,” wrote John McWhorter, PhD.

Use the alphabet song to memorize the alphabet, for instance. You may also get flashcards to help them learn the letters out of sequence afterward. Furthermore, it may pay off to stick alphabet magnets on the refrigerator so that the youngsters can get reminded of them often.

Now that they know what every letter is supposed to sound, you can separate the vowels and teach the short vowel sounds. The child should understand these well enough to immediately recognize the difference, for example, between a short “e” and a short “a.” Work with them until they do without overdoing it, to the point that the poor kid becomes frustrated. Consequently, you can allow them to practice as soon as they get the vowel sounds down.

2. Teach How To Put Letters Together

Once you sense that your kid is ready for more, you may teach them how to put consonant and vowel sounds together.

This step may test your patience greater than the first one because the task requests a lot of concentration. It is something that most young children do not have, considering they have a short attention span. If they are making mistakes with the vowels sounds, you can always go back and do a few practice drills instead of yelling and ruining the experience for them.

As a parent, it also matters to think that perhaps the slip-ups are not because of cognitive disabilities. In some cases, the problem may be exhaustion. That is especially true if they have been learning for more than a couple of hours. Hence, you ought to allow the child to go at their own pace.

According to Kathy Egawa, PhD, “expecting more from young children than is developmentally appropriate may just frustrate them, and turn them off to an interest in reading when it’s most important.”

Say, in the beginning, you may ask your kid to read two-letter syllables in half a page. After some time, they may be ready for two full pages. You will notice that the youngsters will ask you later if they can try more words, thus indicating that you hit another milestone.

“Listen to your child,” wrote Peter Gray, PhD. “Respond appropriately to your child’s questions, but don’t go overboard by telling your child more than he or she wants to know. If you do go overboard, your child will learn to stop asking you questions.”

3. Jump To Three-Letter Words

One of the most effective ways to teach a child how to read three-letter words is to encourage them to identify the initial letter first. For instance, in case the word is “bat,” the first consonant is B. When you include the second letter, which is the vowel A, they can produce the word “ba”. Pronouncing it and adding the letter T, in the end, will allow them to read their first word easily.

Learning longer words will then be not too challenging for the children since they already know how to put syllables together.

Final Thoughts

Teaching a kid how to read is not daunting, is it? You do not need to possess an Education degree to help your child start reading. You merely have to be a mother or a father who understands vowels and consonants quite well and wants their offspring to hold real books instead of gadgets.

Good luck!