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As printed in Hearing Health, volume 20:3,
Fall 2004
by Nora, Owen’s mother
My son Owen was born on April 20, 2003, with congenital
microtia, the absence or malformation of the external
ear, and atresia, malformation of the middle ear. At
seven weeks old, he underwent testing which showed a
severe-to-profound conductive hearing loss and at three
months, he had a CT scan that showed a total absence
of the left ear canal and a fusion of the bones of the
middle ear, making it nonfunctional. The scan also showed
a normally functioning cochlea.
I researched what Owen’s hearing loss could mean
to his educational and behavioral development and found
that children with unilateral hearing impairments run
a risk of delayed speech and even developing learning
disabilities. Owen’s audiologist recommended the
BAHA Softband and my husband and I decided our son should
try it.
Owen was fitted with the Softband when he was nine
months old. The very next day, my husband and I noticed
that he turned when he heard sounds, even soft ones,
and responded well to musical toys! Within the week,
Owen had discovered that he could hear me whisper and
loved the sound of the handbell choir at church. His
first word,
“uh-oh,” came shortly after.
There was a verbal explosion at our house after Owen
got his BAHA Softband. Within several weeks, he could
say “Dada” and call his sister Emma’s
name (“Uhma”). He even began to call me
“No No,” words he associated with me as
I tried to keep him from chewing on his Softband.
Owen has had the BAHA system for almost 11 months.
We are extremely happy with the Softband and so is Owen.
He even gets mad at night when it’s time to take
it off!
Related Articles:
Taking the Ear
Out of the Equation
Watch out World,
Hear I Come!
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