Drew received his hearing aids this week (picture to the left). Through the Columbus Hearing Impaired Program we were able to obtain free loaner hearing aids. This is quite a financial relief, since the hearing aids for his degree of loss can cost up to $7000. We will only be using them until he has his cochlear implant surgery in about nine months, so we are very fortunate that we did not have to purchase his hearing aids.
We have not seen any noticeable reaction from Drew to any sound. I personally have tried my own testing; the results are inconclusive. I will think that I see him react to a noise around the house, then I will recreate the noise and get no response. I have not noticed a reaction to the dog barking, phone ringing, loud yelling or to the television being turned up really loud. None of this is surprising; we did not have a lot of hope that the hearing aids would benefit our son.
We have not seen any noticeable reaction from Drew to any sound. I personally have tried my own testing; the results are inconclusive. I will think that I see him react to a noise around the house, then I will recreate the noise and get no response. I have not noticed a reaction to the dog barking, phone ringing, loud yelling or to the television being turned up really loud. None of this is surprising; we did not have a lot of hope that the hearing aids would benefit our son.
Certainly he will not be able to speak without further intervention. With a hearing loss as profound as his, the hearing aids simply are not able to amplify sound loud enough for Drew to be in the speech banana. This means that all speech is unintelligible for him, if it is even loud enough for him to hear.
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