Families are asked to make hard decisions every day. For families managing medical and developmental differences, the decisions being wrestled with tend to be very complex. For families affected by hearing differences, the question of hearing technology is multifaceted and there is never just one “right answer”. Take a look at one family’s perspective about the decision to get a cochlear implant for their daughter.
“When our daughter, Paisley, was diagnosed with mild to moderate hearing loss, my heart sank. No parent ever wants anything to happen to their child, but she was just a baby and it wasn’t fair. After we received her diagnosis, we met with a pediatric ENT to discuss her hearing loss and start the process to get her fitted for hearing aids. During that appointment, the ENT mentioned that she might eventually need a cochlear implant if her hearing loss ever progressed. I became furious that he would even suggest that and told my husband that she’d ‘never get one of those’.
Fast forward two years to a two-year-old that is beginning to struggle after having above average listening and spoken language skills. Each month we put her in the audiology booth revealed another drop in her hearing. I was watching her hearing loss progress and seeing her become increasingly frustrated because she couldn’t figure out what was happening to her. She was also becoming more dependent on sign language to communicate with us and her sister. Just before her third birthday, we documented another drop and she now had a severe hearing loss. At that appointment, I asked her therapist and audiologist when she could get a cochlear implant.
We had worked so hard and she had been doing amazingly well with listening and spoken language and I was not going to let all that hard work go to waste. Paisley was very attached to her hearing and we had been struggling with behavior issues every time her hearing loss progressed. I never thought that I would be the person pushing for her to receive a cochlear implant, but I felt it was our only option if we wanted her to continue to be a successful listening and spoken language user.
Paisley has been implanted for three years and it was the best decision we’ve ever made. She loves her implants and the ability to hear. She talks to everyone she meets, is reading above grade level, is participating in her fourth year of dance class, and was recently named Student of the Month. Cochlear implants have changed her life and ours too and I’ll forever be grateful for the technology and her team of professionals that have contributed to her success.”
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