Claire's History - A WebsiteBuilder Website

Claire was born on June 14, 2006 at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, TN
Claire DID NOT receive a newborn hearing screening in the hospital. The pediatrician we were using at the time did not order the test in the hospital but chose to conduct the hearing screen in her office at Claire's 2 week visit. This was all done at her discretion and without our consent.
They "could not get a reading" at the Dr.'s office and blamed it on the "sensitivity of the screening tool". They told us to come back for another try.
We were very uncomfortable with this process. This is what originally heightened our sense of awareness to Claire's hearing.
We changed pediatricians and expressed our concerns regarding Claire's hearing to Claire's new Dr.
Our pediatrician referred us The Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center for a hearing screen at Claire's 4 month check up.
Claire was officially diagnosed with profound sensorineural bilateral hearing loss on October 30, 2006. She was 4 1/2 months old.
Claire was evaluated by a Speech Language Pathologist, Audiologist, and ENT specialist at Vanderbilt.
Claire was fitted for hearing aids at 5 1/2 months and has been wearing them daily.
The purpose of the hearing aids is not to correct Claire's hearing loss. They are worn to keep Claire's hearing pathways healthy and to allow her to receive some sound. This is minimal due to Claire's profound loss.
Claire will be received a cochlear implant on June 19, 2007....approximately one week after her 1st birthday.
The FDA will allow cochlear implant surgery only after a child has turned one unless there are extenuating circumstances. Claire has none.
The Dr.'s will implant Claire's right ear.
Claire's implant will then be "turned on" July 13, 2007.
With the help of a speech/language pathologist who specializes in working with children who are deaf and hard of hearing, will begin the process of teaching Claire to "learn to listen".
The plan is to implant the other ear when the professionals feel that Claire is ready.
Claire received her 2nd implant on November 6, 2007 in her left ear.
It was "turned on" November 20, 2007.
We will continue the process we have begun with Claire's right ear using intense therapy and daily focus on listening, and eventually speaking.
The 2 major reasons to implant Claire's second ear are: 1. better localization of sound and 2. better hearing in noisy environments.
It has also been reported by older people who have two implants that they are less fatigued with two than they were with just one implant.
Claire continues one-hour, weekly therapy sessions with an SLP trained to work with D&HH children and her parents. Parents carry through the techniques used by the SLP at home.
The ultimate goal is to have Claire mainstreamed into regular school with minimal accommodations by Kindergarten.
We feel that we are on our way to attaining this for Claire.
for more information on cochlear implants, hearing tests, and other "terms" please see the hearing info. link.