Abby was born amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, without any noticeable complications. Nearly two years later, Abby’s parents began to notice her struggling with speech, compared to that of her brother, and where he had been at his age. After many tests and consultations with hearing specialists, Abby received cochlear implants, which helped improve both her speech and hearing. To learn more about Abby’s experience, read below:
“It was May 2020, just after the world shut down for the covid pandemic. We were at the hospital to welcome our second child wearing n95 masks and being tested for covid before entering. It was already a much different experience than when we had our first child. Abigail ‘Abby,’ was born without complications, and was the perfect addition to our family. We could not wait to be released so she could meet her brother, Jack. The nurses were running the normal newborn tests before being discharged.
With Abby sitting in my arms I could tell something was not right with her hearing test. The nurse kept moving the electrodes around trying to get a better read. Ultimately, it was decided she would be referred to an audiologist for further testing after failing the hearing test on the left side twice. We were comforted by being told that newborns fail this test a lot due to amniotic fluid being in the ear canals.
A month later, Abby and I were at the audiologist for a follow-up auditory brainstem response (ABR) test. This test requires the baby to be in a sound sleep for the best results. After two hours of trying to get an accurate reading Abby fell asleep and passed the test. This was the end of the hearing concerns, or so we thought.
Recognizing a struggle
Right around the time Abby was turning 2, we noticed she sounded much different than our son did when he started talking. She was also struggling to differentiate between similar sounding words, like chips and kiss. While at her 2 year old well-being checkup, we pushed for hearing and speech screenings. With hesitation the pediatrician agreed that the noninvasive testing wouldn’t hurt, but he did not see any red flags.
In July 2022, we met with a very well-known ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor in our area. He did an exam and had a hearing test completed on the spot. She was testing on the borderline for pass/fail but she was also very young for the booth test at that time. Both the ENT and audiologist agreed a sedated ABR would be our best bet for getting an accurate read.
It was discovered she had mild sloping to severe hearing loss and needed to be fit for hearing aids. To be honest this was tough news to receive as we didn’t know anyone who was hard of hearing, let alone a child. We were a hearing family, and that’s all we knew (at the time).
Our amazing health care team chose a proactive monitoring approach with hearing tests every three months. Unfortunately, her hearing thresholds were decreasing quickly in all frequencies. The day before her third birthday, just 10 months after the initial diagnosis we were scheduling her first cochlear implant surgery.
Abby receives a new hearing solution – a cochlear implant
While doing our research we fell in love with the Cochlear brand. We liked the customer service reputation, the low recall statistics, the reliable Aqua kit+1 and the Cochlear™ Kanso® 2 Sound Processor, which is an off-the-ear option.
Making this life changing decision for someone is tough, especially this young2. Ultimately, we are altering her way of life, for what we hoped and prayed was for her best interests. We have no idea what she’ll want in her future, ‘will she be deaf and proud? Will teenage self-esteem issues kick in and she’ll be embarrassed of being ‘different?’’ We liked the idea of having a more discrete option of the Kanso 2 Sound Processor, if she wants when she is older. Even though for now, she is so proud of her ‘ears’ and we don’t see that changing.
Abby was implanted on her left side in July 2023 and her right side in November 2023. In this short time, her speech has exploded. It is such a relief to have other people be able to understand her. Our hearts melt every time she says ‘do you hear that? I hear a sound.’ Her cochlear implants have opened her life to the world of sounds.
Progress, now and in the future
Abby has both the Cochlear™ Nucleus® 8 Sound Processor and the Kanso 2 Sound Processor. She uses the Bluetooth® streaming capability daily. She loves singing and dancing. With the streaming3 opportunity music is streamed with no background sounds. She loves to use Bluetooth features to talk to family and friends on phone calls and FaceTime®. On walks I can use my iPhone® to talk into Abby’s sound processors. This is very helpful when she gets too far ahead and she likely would not be able to hear me if I yelled.
Abby is currently enrolled in a Deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) program for Preschool, which uses the total communication approach of oral and American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate. We want Abby to learn ASL and be able to converse with her deaf and hearing friends.
We want her to continue to be proud to be deaf and thankful for her cochlear implants. We want her to live a life knowing that being deaf does not define her. She will have more struggles than hearing people in certain situations, but we hope to provide her with tools to overcome these obstacles, most importantly using her cochlear implants to their fullest potential.
I’ll never forget when our audiologist said to us, ‘Don’t think of this as hearing loss, but as a deaf gain.’ At the time, her diagnosis was new to us and I was not emotionally ready to think that way. We have come a long way and see how amazing the DHH community is.
Cochlear has changed our lives, most importantly Abby’s life for the better, forever. We are tremendously happy and satisfied with our decision to go with Cochlear. We are a proud DHH family and have fully immersed ourselves into the deaf and hard of hearing community.”
If your child is experiencing hearing loss, or tests have determined they are in need of cochlear implants, learn how you can help your child today!
4 5- The Kanso Sound Processor with the Aqua+ is water resistant to level IP68 of the International Standard IEC60529. This water protection rating means that the sound processor with the Aqua+ can be continuously submerged under water to a depth of 3 meters (9 feet and 9 inches) for up to 2 hours. This water protection only applies when you use the Aqua+ and LR44 alkaline or nickel metal hydride disposable batteries.
- In the United States, the Cochlear Nucleus 24 cochlear implant system is intended for use in children 9 months to 24 months of age who have bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss and demonstrate limited benefit from appropriate bilateral hearing aids. Children 2 years of age or older may demonstrate severe to profound hearing loss bilaterally. In Canada, the Cochlear Nucleus Implant System (CI500 and CI600 Series) is intended for use in children 9 months to 24 months of age who have bilateral profound sensorineural hearing loss and demonstrate limited benefit from appropriate bilateral hearing aids. Children two years of age or older may demonstrate severe to profound hearing loss bilaterally.
- For a full list of smartphone and app compatible devices, visit: www.cochlear.com/compatibility.
- The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks by Cochlear is under license.
- Apple, FaceTime and iPhone are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
