Raise Your Hand

Stories

My brother Mark has had single sided deafness for the last 19 years of his life. I myself have had a severe-to-profound hearing loss since birth and am a recipient of bilateral cochlear implants. Having experienced the wonderful world of sound and no longer having to miss out on important communication in life, I was watching my brother struggle with his hearing loss and miss out on great conversations with his kids. I so much want him to experience better hearing and hooked him up with an audiologist and surgeon to see if he would qualify for Baha.

Mark finally had his evaluation about 3 weeks ago and is indeed a candidate for the Baha. He has made the positive decision to join me in the wonderful world of sound and no longer miss out on important conversations. All he needs now is a surgery date. I can't wait for his life to be easier, he deserves it so very much.

Kathy A. of Chicago, IL

I recently had an opportunity to visit a 3rd year ASL class at a local high school. I brought along my extremely excited 7-year-old son Joshua to share his experience with his cochlear implant . This class had just watched Sound & Fury and was discussing the debate between deaf culture and cochlear implants. At first I was a little nervous about how the students would react to our story. But, once we arrived Joshua just took over! He told them about our family, about school and his passion for wrestling! He even brought along his medals & trophies that he'd won. He laughed a lot and tried to show these students the little bit of sign language he knew (which was only half of the alphabet!) He answered lots of questions, and basically showed the teacher and students that he was a very happy child who lives a very normal life, who can do anything and everything that other children can do!

My heart couldn't have been any prouder of my son who has learned to teach others about his cochlear implant and what it can do in someone else's life. The teacher and students loved Joshua and saw a whole new side to cochlear implants!

Andrea of Puyallup, WA

Last year, at our HLA picnic, I helped a candidate by answering her questions about whether or not to receive a cochlear implant. It was easy work - we had a PA loud speaker system, and usually I'd have had trouble with such systems. I answered questions about the pain, about the amount of work to begin working with cochlear implant and how to ask about the co-pay.

It was a good picnic with nice, though windy, weather. The folks and the buzz of ambient noise provided some challenges, so I was able to explain why I was wearing a small towel over my head in the sun. That towel breaks the wind noise.

Dean of Seattle, WA

I sat there amongst 1500 to 2000 people each night, unable to hear either the music or the speakers. The occasion was our annual State Camp Meeting for the churches of our district. But that began to change the summer of 1999 after I had received my Nucleus 24 cochlear implant from the VA.

Still, in that huge tabernacle, sound tended to get lost, even for people with normal hearing.

The following year, I challenged the leaders in our state to pledge enough money to pay for real-time captioning. We raised it in about ten minutes. I went to the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Access Program office for the State of Oregon and checked out an induction loop system to section off an area providing the captioning as well as direct sound for those with telecoil switches.

Today, we also loop the Adult Conference Room where classes are held throughout the day for an entire week. Four of the people who utilize these assistive technologies now have cochlear implants as a direct result of these services. I have been so blessed to be able to hear again that I cannot bless others enough and, oh yes, I lead the music each morning for the devotional sessions from the piano, something I never dreamed I would ever be able to do again.

Bob of Lebanon, OR

I met a man in St. Louis several years ago in the airport. He noticed that I had bilateral implants. He told me that his son was also a recipient and asked me why I had two. We talked for a few minutes about the bilateral benefits and I could tell that our conversation made a significant impact on him.

I recently spoke to a group of people and after the presentation a man approached me. He told me he was the man I had talked to several years prior in St. Louis and that his son now has bilateral implants as a result of the unplanned acquaintance.

Mark D. of McKinney, TX

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