After a child has meningitis, the family has only a small time-frame in which to plan for cochlear implant surgery. Meningitis causes the cochlea in the ear to harden soon after the illness, so quick decisions have to be made.
This Kiwi family tells the story of how a cochlear implant helped their son to gain age-appropriate language and get to talk to everyone he meets.
Read more: The Gift of Hearing
The same piece relates how a child with Charge syndrome gains from her implant, which gives a sensation of balance. Even if a child has no hearing nerves, an auditory brainstem implant (ABI) can give sensations of sound.
Hearing implants can also benefit children with complex issues, who may not initially be considered for surgery. In short, sound has a neurological impact on a child’s development, whether hearing-aids or implants are the vehicle.
This is why audiological (hearing) services for babies and very young children are so important, to give these children the best start in life – with sound, where possible, and to provide solid foundations for their learning.
Further Reading
- Bilingual, Spoken Language At Home And School
- The Sky’s The Limit, When Parents Are Informed
- Deaf Children ‘Can Learn Their Family Language’
- New Study: Babies Learn Language By Lip-Reading
- After A Cochlear Implant – The Real Work Begins
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