A Family of 10 Ears : Three girls, two with hearing loss, teach a mom about uncommon gratitude
By Mandy McClellan
"Thank goodness God only gives two ears per person" is a thought that never would have entered my mind seven years ago. Our first child, Abby, then age 3, was diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. We had no idea what that diagnosis meant--for our child, our family, our way of thinking, and our life in general. We evaluated our options and made the decisions we believed were best for our family, figuring things out as we went. Abby had mild to moderate hearing loss. And then our second child, Keely, received the same diagnosis at age 1. We think of ourselves as part of a special group of people: those who have no family history of hearing loss, and yet have two children with hearing loss.
Having children with hearing loss creates a new lens through which we now view our world. It's changed how we see everything: church, school, social issues, and beyond. Much of what I now think about--background noise, preferential seating--would have never even crossed my mind seven years ago.
We weren't looking for this diagnosis with our oldest, but because of it, we had our second and third daughters evaluated. At first, we treated the girls' hearing loss with hearing aids but when the hearing loss progressed to profound deafness, we opted for the girls to receive bilateral cochlear implantsa good but not easy choice. We talked to many professionals who took our family in as their own and were patient with our constant questions. They steered us to other families when we needed the perspective of someone living what we were living. Before hearing loss affected our family, I would have told you that my biological family was "enough" for me. Now our family wouldn't be complete without our audiologists and speech therapists.
So why am I thankful for only two ears on each of my children's heads? I am confident that the routine surgery of cochlear implantation was the best option for my children, but there was nothing "routine" about the waiting to see my babies after their surgeries. I'm grateful there weren't any more than four ears to operate on! Two
little girls, four different surgeries, four times to live through learning to hear in a different way. I would not trade any of those four times because of the success we've experienced. But I'm still thankful that it's over.
Today, we are a family of 10 ears. Some use equipment, some do not. We have selective hearing issues and communication breakdowns with those who wear equipment and with those who do not. We laugh, have fun, get angry, tease one another, have serious discussions--and we repeat ourselves a lot. We are a "normal" family with the uncommon distinction of knowing to be thankful for having only two ears per person.
Mandy McClellan is chapter coordinator for Arkansas Hands & Voices and works for the National Center for Hearing Assessment and Management.
