Earlier this week, Gracie Prang was shocked to hear the crunch of snow clearly for the first time in her life.
鈥淭he simple things that the rest of us take for granted are really popping up and we鈥檙e seeing it. It鈥檚 really exciting,鈥� her mother Stephanie Schneck told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning Monday.
Without hearing aids, the 10-year-old鈥檚 hearing can drastically fluctuate from near hearing loss to being perfectly fine. This is because of fluid which can fill up her inner ear, making sounds seem like she鈥檚 underwater.
鈥淵ou can be a foot in front of her face screaming at her and she couldn鈥檛 hear you,鈥� Schneck told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview Monday.
She feels fortunate to have received a donation from Kinsmen Telemiracle Foundation to cover the specific $6,400 pair of hearing aids for Gracie, because her family couldn鈥檛 afford them. But she says it should have been covered by the Saskatchewan government and that other families aren鈥檛 going to be as lucky.
For months, Schneck has been calling for changes to the province鈥檚 , which were changed in 2017 with a stronger focus on parents and adults going through registered private sector clinics.
Last week, she directly, but Health Minister Jim Reiter told CTV Regina at the time: 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to get her some answers as soon as we possibly can.鈥�
Schneck said 鈥�(the province) buys certain hearing aids in bulk and they give you the option to purchase them at a discount but there鈥檚 no actually funding program.鈥� For families like hers, she said, 鈥渢here鈥檚 really a whole lot of nothing.鈥�
According to Schneck, three audiologists told her that the only options for her daughter were permanent surgical implants, which wouldn't work because Gracie鈥檚 bones are still developing; a more expensive headband or the hearing aids Gracie has now; or the Adhear implants, a non-surgical bone conduction hearing system which connects to a hearing aid in her ear canal.
Schneck said the last option was the best for her daughter who鈥檚 extremely active and loves driving 4-wheel quads, fishing and hunting. Because going through the , her mother took her to private audiologists who can鈥檛 provide financing help.
鈥淵ou pay up front or you don鈥檛 get your hearing,鈥� she said.
She doesn鈥檛 want other families to fall through the cracks and wants the government to step up.
Health Minister Jim Reiter emailed a statement to CTVNews.ca saying his office reached out to Schneck to try and figure out how her daughter鈥檚 hearing aids鈥� 鈥渘ew technology might fit within our provincial programs.鈥�
The statement also adds that the devices are 鈥渟o new that the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health does not have any additional information on it. We鈥檝e asked them to investigate further, and hope to hear back in the coming weeks.鈥�
Gracie鈥檚 pediatric audiologist, Dr. Karen Sharpe, who had worked for the province up until Saskatchewan鈥檚 cuts in 2017, said that for families like Schneck鈥檚, the options are very limited.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just part of the cuts of 2017 and I don鈥檛 know if there鈥檚 other options,鈥� she said, adding that she believes the government wasn鈥檛 aware of the situation before or realized how the cuts were affecting people.
鈥淭he government does provide hearing aids (cochlear and surgical processors) but they鈥檙e traditional hearing aids and in Saskatchewan I know the waitlist can be long,鈥� Sharpe said, adding that,even then, people sometimes raise the money to pay for them through websites like GoFundMe.
Sharpe added that it could be feasible to provide the type of aids Gracie needs through the government.
As someone who鈥檚 been bothin the public and private sectors, Sharpe said the province could possibly run these aids through the supplementary health program which is traditionally only used for low-income families.
Schneck says her daughter was fortunate in that the Kinsmen Telemiracle Foundation, which helps people get special needs equipment and medical treatment, stepped up to pay for the hearing aids.
鈥淎ccording to the school, she has done a complete 360. She can pay attention, she can be a part of group conversations, she can be a part of regular socialization in class,鈥� she told CTV鈥檚Your Morning.
In September, she started a for the aids but after the foundation agreed to pay for them, Schneck says any excess money is going towards helping other children in similar situations.
鈥淢oney donated here from this point on, is going to be put towards starting a non-profit charity for (kids) in need of hearing aids,鈥� the description on the fundraising page reads.
