Another Family’s Story

Lilyhear is a blog by the family of a beautiful two-year-old in Talahassee, Florida named Lily (picture to the right). When she was two years old it was discovered that she had profound hearing loss in one ear, and a moderate-severe loss in the other.
This family is facing many of the same issues as [...]

Scammers Abusing Phone Aid for Deaf – Video

This MSNBC video illustrates the lengths that scam artists will go to these days. As if targeting senior citizens or the general public was not disgusting enough, now those in the deaf community are being subjected to these criminals via a service known as IP Relay.
The lastest hotbed for robbery seems to be Nigeria. [...]

No Hearing Aids Today

We were supposed to get Drew’s hearing aids today, but his ear molds were not ready. It has been over two weeks since they were fit; at this rate his ear will be too big to use them, and they will have to be redone.
Hearing loss in infants requires a lot of patience, something that [...]

Now I Know What’s Possible

It has been a little over a month since we were told that Drew was born with profound hearing loss. I have learned so much and come to terms with his deafness, but only because I have sought out information and individuals to help me understand my sons condition and the possibilities for him. If [...]

Baby Is Deaf No More – Video

This is a link to a CNN.com video segment that shows a young boy who has just had his cochlear implant “turned on” – and he is now hearing for the first time in his life.
As I watched this with my wife we both shed tears hoping that Drew can one day be like the [...]

Interviewing a Cochlear Implant Surgeon

The decision to turn on Drew’s hearing was easy. Deciding on a doctor to perform the surgery might be the most difficult. There are so many things to consider when selecting a doctor, including his experience, standard practice of implant surgery and the audiologist/therapist team he works with.
We interviewed our first doctor less than one [...]

The Surgery Alone Is Not Enough

I have learned a lot about hearing loss over these first weeks. The most surprsing to me is that no one piece of the doctor, audiologist, therapist combination is going to secure my childs ability to communicate orally. It will be the combination of all three that will determine his success with his cochlear implant.
An [...]

Visiting a School for the Deaf

The doctors and audiologists have told us that our son has a profound hearing loss. They have given us an idea of medical things Drew will be going through over the next several months: immediate fittings for bilateral hearing aids, multiple hearing screenings, surgery for cochlear implant(s), aural therapy, speech therapy, year round schooling, to [...]

Intitial Research

Ever since Drew’s diagnois, my ear has been glued to the phone. So many people to call, so many recommendations about how to tackle this challenge. So many different opinions. I think that the one thing I have learned is that everyone in this field has their own belief on what we should do for [...]

Introduction

My six week old son, Drew, was born with profound hearing loss. This blog is dedicated to the journey our family takes to “turn on” his hearing.