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As a matter of fact it seemed like such a routine doctors' appointment that neither my husband nor I attended the appointment with her due to our jobs. Both of our mothers took Devon.                                         

Her appointment was at a Ear Nose and Throat clinic at a local hospital. My husband and I both received a call requesting us to come up to the hospital immediately. When we arrived, an audiologist met us. She explained to me that Devon had a substantial hearing loss the severity of which had yet to be determined. I think it is most likely hard for anyone that has never been through this to understand the whirlwind of emotions, questions and anger we had at that time. We had never even met a hearing impaired person and had no idea that two hearing parents could have a deaf child unless there was some major illness such as meningitis. 

I took being a mother very seriously during my pregnancy to the extent that I wouldn't take an aspirin or drink caffinated products. I did everything I knew to insure having the healthiest baby possible. I had a hard time accepting this diagnosis could be real, I thought surely there had been a mistake. The next few days were so traumatic for my husband and me, I was in serious denial and had to watch my child go through tests and procedures that I didn't fully understand myself. We were in and out of that place for three or four days and at the end had no answers as to why. It didn't look like we would ever be able to answer that question and at this time still can't. It no longer presents itself as an issue though. 

So there we were-- two young hearing parents with a newly diagnosed deaf child. Our next question was "Now what?" The audiologist from the hospital helped us through this issue as well. She explained that there was a school and told us what they have to offer. She explained that we had choices to make as far as total communication vs. verbal vs. sign only programs. 

During the time we spent at the hospital I do not remember ever once actually talking to any medical doctor, only the audiologist. No one EVER discussed with us the option of a cochlear implant or even mentioned them to us. It was also never brought up to us that we could get Devon in private speech therapy. As a matter of fact we were never told that there were speech therapists or rehabilitation audiologists that worked with deaf children outside of the school system. It wasn't until Devon was three years old and we saw an episode of 20/20 on implants that we even became aware that such a thing existed. 

After seeing the TV program, I thought of the only "experts" on hearing impairment that I could think of and called my daughter's school for a meeting to discuss the option. I walked away from that meeting feeling ashamed of myself for even so much as considering doing this to my child. I was told that I needed to accept my daughter for who she is and not try to make her who I wanted her to be. I was told that the best case scenario was that she would always be extremely hard of hearing, still unable to use the telephone or hear actual conversation. I was told that if my daughter had this operation she would no longer "fit in" with other deaf children and she would not be accepted by the hearing world. They told me we had plenty of time to think about this type of procedure at a much later date and maybe we should wait until Devon could decide for herself that she wanted to go through the surgery.

I was told that it wasn't even worth talking to a doctor about it because they were going to say whatever it took to get our money. They said the doctor would exaggerate the facts and share only their successful cases with us. We were told the success rate was very low for this operation and that there had not been adequate research done at this time. Devon is a brilliant little girl. She is highly motivated and strong willed. At the end of her second grade year, she came to me and told me she wanted to go to the doctor and she wanted a cochlear implant. We had thought no more about them for almost five years at that point. I could not look at my daughter when she got older after not giving her this chance if that is what SHE wanted! I am here to tell you that, "YES I DO ACCEPT MY DAUGHTER FOR WHO SHE IS! I ALSO RESPECT HER FOR WHO SHE IS!" 

I know we have a long road ahead of us filled with many more tiring and emotional times. But I also know that as a mother, I OWE her this opportunity, I only wish it could have been sooner!! My family has done a lot of thinking and soul searching in the past few months. After meeting Dr Peters at Dallas Otolaryngology Associates and Linda Daniel at Hear In Dallas as well as several of the children in their program, we now know so much more is possible than we ever could have imagined! My daughter's school is still making things somewhat difficult and we will most likely be removing her from their program after she gets her implant programmed and home school her. The difference is I am now making decisions for and with my daughter and medical professionals instead of seeking the school system's opinion. Devon had her surgery August 16, 1999, and starts a whole new life on September 20, 1999, thanks to Dr Peters and Linda Daniel and the other staff involved. I hope that this helps you, as doctors know how important that initial diagnosis and the information that accompanies it are to us as parents and how it can determine the course of a child's life

Thank you for your time and this opportunity to share this experience with you.

Brandy and Ron Harris, RNBHarris@aol.com