Just in case you wanted to know what to expect from the doctor....

Did you know, oh blog world, that about 3-6 percent of all deaf kids have Usher's, in addition to another
3-6 percent of children with hard hearing. All in all, every 100,000 births produce 4 poor little babies with Usher's Syndrome... In case you were wondering, symptoms don't necessarily start the same time in all kids with Usher's. In fact, bloggers, there are THREE different types of Usher's syndrome. Babies born with type 1 Usher's Syndrome are born extremely deaf at birth and with severe balance problem,  usually unable to walk until they are 18 months old! These children begin having vision issues as they reach age 10, first starting with issues with night vision, slowly becoming more blind every day, until they are completly so. It is VERYYY important to seek these children help at an early age, to better help them with their issues (hearing aides do not help much for these individuals).
Type two kids are a bit different. Born with moderate to severe hearing loss, their balance is perfectly fine. They can communicate orally and also get help from hearing aides. Their vision loss is also more gradual then those with type one, showing up in the early teenager years.
Then you got type 3 Usher's syndrome, just like mine. We type 3-ers are born with normal hearing, and near perfect balance (which can later turn more severe). I start losing my hearing in the teens (pretty much right now), and have to rely on hearing aides as I enter my adulthood. Any issues with night vision appear after puberty, then followed by blind spots in my teenage years. By mid adulthood, I will be legally blind.
On a less somber note I have another chart for those of you who liked last entry's helpful picture.

	Type 1	Type 2	Type 3
Hearing	Profound deafness in both ears from birth	Moderate to severe hearing loss from birth	Normal at birth; progressive loss in childhood or early teens
Vision	Decreased night vision before age 10	Decreased night vision begins in late childhood or teens	Varies in severity; night vision problems often begin in teens
Vestibular  function (balance)	Balance problems from birth	Normal	Normal to near-normal, chance of later problems

 At this point you may wonder, how is Usher's syndrome diagnosed? Because Usher's syndrome affects hearing, balance and sight, usually a test or evaluation of these senses will give a Doctor enough information to diagnose. REMEMBER, it is realllly important to test your son, daughter, cousin, child at an EARLY stage, so tha they may get as much support as possible before the later effects of the syndrome settle in.