Early childhood division: from birth to age three
In the early childhood division, we believe that the family has a vital role in the child’s upbringing and education, and therefore see the family as a main partner at Beit Micha as follows:
- In making decisions, in implementing the therapeutic goals in everyday life and in evaluating the child’s functioning and benefit from the hearing aids in the home environment.
- The parents are the ones who choose the modes of communication, the educational placement and the way of integration (in partnership with the professional staff.
- The team builds the intervention and support plan for the child and his or her family in accordance with the parents’ choices.
Hearing impaired child playing in the garden
The process of accepting a child and family in the intervention program includes:
- Behavioral hearing test by expert audiologists from a very early age
- Introduction and explanatory meeting with the division manager
- Intake meeting by the social worker
- Reference to headphones manufacturers
- Receiving hearing aids on loan and integration into the intervention plan.
- Intake meeting and definition of therapeutic goals by the multi-professional team and the family, about a month later.
- A procedure for fitting personal hearing aids or an evaluation prior to the referral for an implant
- Assessing the needs of the child and the family and adjusting the integration in one of the therapeutic-educational tracks
Upon joining the intervention program of the Early Childhood Division in Beit Micha, the family is given the option of choosing one of three integration tracks:
- Individual treatments – hearing rehabilitation and communication clinic treatments to develop auditory perception skills, language communication and speech at Beit Micha. The rest of the week, the child participates in his or her local kindergarten with hearing children.
- Beit Micha’s Rotating Kindergarten – the child participates in a kindergarten in his or her local community for four days a week, and for two days he or she attends Beit Micha’s Rotating Kindergarten with other hearing impaired children. Emphasis is placed on improving social skills among peers. On these two days, the child also receives the professional treatments.
- Rehabilitation daycare center for children with hearing impairment – operating in Beit Micha every day of the week – a setting that allows for therapeutic and educational intensity.
The following projects are provided as well:
Beit Micha’s ‘Ongoing’ program – Beit Micha was chosen to lead the program, which provides guidance and accompaniment to families, on behalf of the Ministry of Welfare. The purpose of the program is to train parents of hearing-impaired toddlers to better integrate into their community and home. The training takes place in the family’s home and takes place alongside the therapeutic journey in which the family is integrated.
Beit Micha’s ‘Mishak’ project – provides services for children with unilateral or mild hearing impairments. These children are affected in situations such as: quiet speech, speaking at a distance, or speaking in conditions of noise and reverberation. These children find it difficult to follow and understand the words of the kindergarten teacher and other children and require assistance. In light of the fact that quite a few of the children show a delay in language development, the “Mishak” project was built with the aim of providing the children with an environment rich in language and natural discourse.
