Kristen L. talks about her daughter, Abbie, and the successes she has found with her bilateral cochlear implants. Not only is she a natural with every sport she tries, she also is on the Canadian deaf Olympic volleyball team! See how Abbie does not let anything hold her back from achieving her dreams:
“Abbie was born April 21, 2002 and she just turned 16. We learned she was profoundly deaf in both ears after she failed all the standard hearing tests they do on all babies in the hospitals here in Nova Scotia, Canada.
We were quickly led to the direction of getting her bilateral cochlear implants. We chose to go with Cochlear because of our audiologist’s recommendation. They only did one ear at one time, and we wanted her to get the second one done too.
Getting bilateral cochlear implants
At 13 months, she had her first Cochlear Implant surgery done for the first side. Then, at the age of 8, she was approved to have her second side implanted.
It took a bit of time to get used to having two Cochlear Implants, as they were done so far apart…but she has adjusted now. She loves the Aqua+* kit, and at school, her teachers wear an FM system.
Sports and school success
Being deaf has never held her back from pursuing all of the sports and opportunities she has wanted to be a part of. She plays volleyball, basketball, soccer, runs track and cross-country. She has succeeded in all of the sports she participates in and is a fantastic student as well! We are proud of her success in school!
She is on Canada’s deaf Olympic volleyball team. They just got back from France, and they won the gold medal! It is the first time she ever played without her sound processors on (as this is a rule for the team), and she was the youngest player there. It was amazing to watch. Read a news article about Abbie’s volleyball experience here.
Sisters with cochlear implants
Abbie has a special needs sister, Georgia, who also has bilateral cochlear implants, like her sister. She is only the fifth person in the world diagnosed with the congenital disorder of glycosylation type 1P. They both had some genetic testing after her sister was born, but they never found out the reason they are both deaf.
We are so proud of Abbie and her multiple accomplishments. Her athleticism, great grades and persistence has been an inspiration to us all! We are proud of her bilateral cochlear implants and cannot wait to see what she does next!”
Are you looking into bilateral cochlear implants for your child? Give them the opportunities to succeed, like Abbie, and read more here.
*The Nucleus 6 and Nucleus 7 Sound Processors with Aqua+ and Aqua+ Coil are water resistant to level IP68 of the International Standard IEC60529 when you use a Cochlear Standard Rechargeable Battery Module or Cochlear Compact Rechargeable Battery Module. Refer to the relevant User Guide for more information.
