Melissa Benton

"Hello, my name is Melissa Benton. It is a privilege to share my experience with deafness and the cochlear implant.

I was diagnosed with a hearing impairment at the age of three. Doctors believed the nerve damage was caused by a severe case of mumps and high fever when I was two years old. At the time of my diagnosis, I was found to be completely deaf in my right ear, and had approximately 40% loss in my left ear.

In spite of my hearing impairment, I was a happy, outgoing child. I was also an energetic tomboy who earned the nickname "Tiger" because of my fondness for playing football and picking on boys.

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Randy and Blaine Moore

Our worse nightmare turned into a dream come true thanks to the help of a local surgeon and a cochlear implant. The following story is a journey into the life of Blaine, before and after this amazing surgery.

As with all expectant parents you hope and pray that you give birth to a healthy child, and as soon as it is born you find yourself counting to make sure that they have ten fingers and ten toes and that all their other parts are intact. I was never concerned that I may have a deaf child.                                 

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Cecile Landon

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After months of adjustment to hearing new sounds, I wonder if it is possible to convey how it really was at first. In January I decided to have a cochlear implant. After grieving for the loss of my remaining natural hearing, I finally learn I will have better hearing, but it will be mechanical.

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Devon Harris

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I have been asked to share the experiences my family and I have had in regards to my hearing impaired child. At this time my daughter is 8 years old and in the third grade in the deaf education program in a local school district. Devon was born full term with little complications during labor. She did have the cord wrapped around her neck although I don't think it was to any great extent. She had no known illnesses or viral infections during her infancy. At 14 to 15 months the family started to grow concerned that although she babbled she didn't seem to be trying to form words. Our thoughts were that she may have some blockage and possibly need to have tubes put in her ears to help her hear clearly. We NEVER anticipated that we were about to discover that our daughter was deaf.                         

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Abbi Timmons

Abbi Timmons is my precious little 7 year old daughter.  She was born profoundly deaf we assume. Newborn screening wasn't mandatory at that time.  The nurses tried to test her but told me she wouldn't cooperate.  They assured me she was probably fine and I could take her to the pediatrician for testing in a few months if I had any concerns.  Having no history of deafness in my nor her father's family, I dismissed the thought and didn't have her tested. 

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