Lance Allred Cavs Update

On Tuesday I posted about Lance Allred, the NBA’s first deaf basketball player. Since then, I ran across another article on him which detailed his struggles in getting to his sport’s highest level.
Most of this article details the difficulty that “minor league” basketball players go through in scraping up enough money to live (and [...]

Deaf NBA Player Has Cochlear Implants

Lance Allred was just signed to a 10-day contract by the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers. While a fantastic accomplishment in itself, his stint in the NBA is even more spectacular considering he is deaf.
Lance has had around a 75% loss of hearing since birth, but now has (bilateral?) cochlear implants. In one article he [...]

Cochlear Implants: Q & A

I have received several emails recently from parents of children newly diagnosed with hearing loss. I love the fact that this blog has allowed us to connect with other families all across the country (well, the world, really) that are going through similar experiences. Some of the questions I have received may be on the [...]

Why Cochlear?

Drew’s Dad and I have been playing around with Blogger and were experimenting with the survey feature, hence the “Which brand of C.I. Did you Choose?” question on the sidebar. It’s a little coincidental since Amy recently left a comment asking why we chose Cochlear as the brand of implant for Drew. She is trying [...]

Bilateral Cochlear Implants: Updates and Controversies Conference

Meet Drew’s friend Jonah.
Jonah is quite famous in the cochlear implant world in Columbus, Ohio. He’s been featured on the local news and in ad campaigns for Nationwide Children’s Hospital. That’s partly because he has been so successful being implanted with simultaneous, bilateral cochlear implants at a young age, but it’s also got to be [...]

Dr. Jacques Herzog – Cochlear Implant Surgeon

Back what seems like years ago, when we were totally in the dark as to the different ways we may be able to help Drew, we were fortunate enough to meet Dr. Jacques Herzog who is a cochlear implant surgeon in St. Louis.
We called upon many of our friends and family members to help us [...]

Do You Hear Me Now?

Drew had his six month mapping appointment this week. He was such a good boy for the booth testing and his mapping. All I need is a box of Cheerios and Drew is one happy little boy!
Drew’s audiologists had not seen him since November, so they were both thrilled to see how vocal Drew has [...]

Six Months?

We’ve all been sick with the flu. The nasty little bug caught Drew and he has spread it to the entire – ENTIRE – family, including the Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins that spent Christmas with us. I’m not sure if anyone will come back next year! In the midst of the sickness, Drew’s six [...]

Drew Is Helping Other Deaf Children!

At only one year old, Drew is already helping other deaf children to “turn on their ears”.
A nine month old little girl in New York was scheduled for her cochlear implant surgery, but was later denied coverage by Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield because she was under one year old. Their doctor submitted a letter [...]

Drew Can Hear The "Ling" Sounds (Video)

Drew is consistently moving through his different “maps” and is doing well. Yesterday we tested his hearing ability by having Drew’s Mom sit behind him and make the “Ling Sounds”. These sounds are 1) “aaah”, 2) “oooh”, 3) “eeee”, 4) “mmmm”, 5) “ssss”, and 6) “shhh”, and are supposed to represent the sounds [...]