Hearing impaired child playing with Legos
The treatment at Beit Micha
The principles of treatment:
Early detection: understanding the importance of early detection of hearing impairment, which is now possible thanks to the introduction of screening tests in all maternity hospitals in Israel, helps in providing a treatment and auditory rehabilitation plan as early as possible. These invite the child admitted for treatment to have an auditory and communicative experience during a period when there is flexibility in the development of the brain so that the child can be promoted and reach optimal achievements in the future.
Early intervention: the first three years of age are extremely significant for the process of acquiring initial communication skills and, following them, the acquisition of language. Therein lies the importance for therapeutic intervention as early as possible already in the first months of the baby’s life.
Addressing all areas of the child’s development: based on knowledge of the consequences of hearing impairment on the child’s development, the professional staff at Beit Micha believes in a comprehensive approach to all areas of the child’s functioning and providing a professional response to the various elements that support normal development.
A variety of treatment methods and communication approaches in the intervention program: at Beit Micha, the professional staff specializes in a variety of communication approaches adapted to the needs of the child and the requests of his family: oral communication, verbal auditory communication and inclusive communication (oral language and sign language).
The integration and participation of the family is one of the cornerstones of the Beit Micha intervention program. According to this approach, children cannot be promoted in isolation from their families due to the mutual influence they have on the child’s education and rehabilitation process. The Beit Micha intervention plan, therefore, emphasizes the place of the family in the intervention process. The multi-professional team at Beit Micha provides information, guidance and support to parents in fulfilling their natural role in raising the child. The team works for the partnership of parents in the treatment plan, in making decisions about the goals of the treatment, its goals and the methods of intervention.
A natural approach: based on the understanding that optimal development occurs in the natural cause of the child, the intervention program in Beit Micha emphasizes the integration of activities related to imparting language and communication in the daily routine of life, fostering communication and language through the interaction between the child and his parents and establishing the emotional patterns and social relations of the child with hearing impairments in his natural environment.
Maximum integration of the child in educational settings in the community according to his ability and skills, emphasizing the importance of experiences and learning in a natural environment and with hearing children. The professional staff at Beit Micha set as a central goal to enable all children to integrate into educational settings in the community, to accompany the integration while making the educational environment accessible and providing guidance and support to all partners in this process
Multidisciplinary team: The professional team at Beit Micha works in coordination and mutual synchronization. The work of the multi-professional team enables a multi-disciplinary and multi-professional meeting and discussion aimed at improving the quality of care for the child and his family, preventing a narrow and one-sided view of the development of the family system and jointly planning an intervention plan that addresses all the dimensions related to this development.
