If you have a child with hearing loss and you’re questioning the success and opportunities that exist in their future, read the story of Will A. His mother, Jen, shares how Will, who has bilateral Cochlear implants, is flourishing in school, band and sports.
“My husband and I entered the world of hearing loss in April 2004. Our son John was 11 months old and had been having rampant ear infections. We brought him in for a routine audiology appointment preceding surgery for ear tubes and received the shock of our lives.
John was diagnosed with moderate to severe sensorineural hearing loss, which would require hearing aids for the rest of his life. John had passed his hearing screening at birth (which we were completely unaware had even taken place), and we had no inclination whatsoever that anything was wrong with our baby boy.
While under anesthesia during his tube surgery, our surgeon drew blood to test him for Connexin 26. Weeks later we learned he was positive, and because this was a recessive gene and when I was pregnant with our second son, Will, we learned Will also had a chance of being hearing impaired.
Will came into the world in September, and indeed failed his newborn hearing screening. As I was recovering from a C-section, undergoing radiation treatment for breast cancer that was diagnosed a month after John’s diagnosis, taking care of a 15 month old with hearing aids and taking him to weekly auditory-verbal therapy sessions, we decided to begin Will’s journey towards cochlear implants.
Will received his first Cochlear implant when he was one, and his second the following year. I had quit my full-time job when he was born, and for the first five and a half years of his life, we attended auditory-verbal therapy sessions twice a week and worked extensively at home as well. He was a smart and sweet baby, but slow to develop speech.
Will truly began to blossom at age four as a student at the Alabama School for Hearing. I will never forget the IEP (individual education plan) meeting the spring before he entered kindergarten, when for the first time ever he tested at his chronological age for speech recognition and development. Will taught himself to read before kindergarten, and the next year had memorized every president and vice president in order and by number alone. (‘Will, who was the 22nd president?’ ‘Grover Cleveland.’)
Will loves school and has been fully mainstreamed since kindergarten. Will now has Nucleus® 6 Sound Processors and sound field FM in every classroom. He makes straight As and can tell you all about any sports team as well as local and national politics. He is a relentless and highly competitive sportsman, and he played on the championship team for both baseball and basketball in 2016.
This year, the spring before Will entered middle school, he tried out for the band. Our town has a nationally recognized band program, and our band professionals are amazing with our students.
At tryouts, Will tested every single instrument that was available. And despite profound deafness and two parents and a brother without any musical background, Will scored high on all of the low brass instruments. Will chose the trombone because he loved the slide and the sound it made. He began practicing this summer and just six months later participated in his first ever band concert.
Will’s Band Director, Chris C., said this about Will, ‘He seems to be very happy and is playing his heart out on the trombone. We have moved the trombones around the room several times to see if it is a better fit for him in certain areas, but he seems to be good with wherever he sits. We couldn’t be more proud of him and how he is progressing in band. It’s our hope that he will continue to thrive in band here in Homewood and maybe one day march in the Rose Parade or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!’
We hope that happens too, and we couldn’t be more proud of Will and his progress! We call him ‘Fearless Will’ because he will take on any challenge, and puts himself out there regardless of the circumstances.
He is a regular acolyte at our church, he plays in tennis tournaments several times a year, and he has gone off to summer camp every summer for the last five years. He plays hard but is also very conscientious and takes his commitments seriously.
Our other son, who we call ‘The Amazing John,’ went on to receive the first Nucleus® 5 Sound Processors in Alabama in September 2009, when he was in the first grade. They are both doing remarkably well!
This technology has changed all of our lives, and we give thanks daily for it. Our boys are testaments for how cochlear implants transform lives!”
If you have a child with hearing loss, visit IWantYouToHear.com for more resources to help.
