Rotary donates aid to children with hearing impairment

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9 years ago

Rotary Oritamefa, Ibadan Club in commemorating September’s Basic Education and Literacy has donated hearing aids of two children with impaired hearing.

President, Rotary Oritamefa, Ibadan Club, Dr Jane Adebusuyi, along with some other members of the club, made the donation at the Highland Specialist hospital.

The children, who were of the same parents, were Stephen Jide and Faith Jide, aged seven years and four years respectively. They are pupils of Methodist Primary School, Bodija, Ibadan.

Adebusuyi declared that the club got to know about the plight of these children through a social media and decided something must be done to ensure that this impairment does not affect their educational development.

According to her, “we believe that the hearing aid will enhance Stephen’s intellectual performance. If he is able to hear, he will do well in school. That is why we decided to take up the case.

“In support of the gesture, Highland Hospital gave us a 50 per cent discount on the total cost of the hearing aid. Also, we had taken up the cost of Faith’s medication.”

Medical Director, Highland Specialist Hospital Yemetu, Dr Diran Olabisi stated that without hearing, speech becomes difficult, hence the hearing aid was significant.

According to him, “whatever he is hearing, he will now be able to say it out. And by that his educational achievement would be better than in the past.”

Olabisi, who remarked that without the hearing aid, Stephen would have ended up using sign language to communicate, added the hearing problem could have been due to a damage to his cochlear, the organs of hearing inside the brain.

The medical expert stated that in some situation, hearing aid had corrected the hearing problem in some people, adding, “you cannot predict what the outcome can be in the case of Stephen, but miracles do happen.”

He declared that although Faith could not hear any sound even with a hearing aid for now, by starting auditory stimulation, she also will be able to hear after a while.

Stephen Jide, the children’s father said Stephen’s hearing problem was noticed when he was two years old, adding that the diagnosis of the problem was made at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.