Archive for September, 2007

Child’s Voice of Wood Dale, Ill. in the Chicago Tribune

September 21, 2007 at 1:46 pm · Filed under hearing impaired, school

Our good friends at Child’s Voice School for Hearing Impaired children outside Chicago were reported on in the Chicago Tribune. In the article, Michele Wilkins, the school’s director, described how she started the school back with only a few children, and how the school has grown over the years.

Interestingly, Michele tells how the enrollment has declined over the recent past due to the increase of mainstreaming children with deafness into ordinary schools, which can be directly tied to the amazing results achieved by the use of cochlear implants.

I just edited the Wikipedia article about cochlear implants, which stated that the results of cochlear implants in children “have been mixed”. All you parents know that the cochlear implant produces amazing results, and certainly the child is better off with them than without.

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Does the Freedom Bodyworn Give Better Sound than the BTE?

September 20, 2007 at 11:16 pm · Filed under Nucleus Cochlear implant

nucleus freedom BDW

VS.

nucleus freedom BTE

In meeting with my daughter’s school audiologist yesterday, he mentioned that he was under the impression that the sound produced by the Nucleus Freedom Bodyworn processor is superior to that of the BTE model.

We wonder if this is indeed true. According to what we’ve heard, and as was described in great length at the most recent Cochlear Celebration, both kinds of Freedom processors are the same – as they are completely modular. The only difference between them is the battery power.

We wonder what Cochlear would say to the audiologist’s impressions. Probably they would vehemently disagree. Similarly, at the Celebration they denied any meaningful difference between using rechargeable or alkaline batteries, while some users swear that there is a noticeable loss of quality while using rechargeables.

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Broward Times – Family must sell home to fund implant for deaf daughter

September 10, 2007 at 4:24 pm · Filed under bilateral implants, insurance reimbursement

The family of a young Florida girl that was denied cochlear implants by her insurance company is faced with having to sell their home in order to come up with funds for cochlear implant surgery.

The Article in the Broward Times notes how the insurance company denied coverage as it was a preexisting condition. Since the cost of cochlear implant surgery is near the $100,000 range, the sale of their home is required in order to come up with the large funds.

Donations can be given to the orginazation listed in the article.

Although one’s heart does go out to the parents of this girl, one cannot blame the insurance company for this denial. Although insurance companies tend to misbehave in these coverages, especially regarding bilateral implants, this case is justified. I don’t agree with those who claim that the denial is a violation of discrimination laws, and I would rather focus on getting this girl the help she so desperately needs.

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New York Times Article on Follow Up Hearing Test for Newborns

September 6, 2007 at 4:06 pm · Filed under hearing loss

Newborn babyThe New York Times has authored an informative article on the lack of follow-up testing for newborns that fail the initial hearing screening. It seems that although most infants are screened for hearing loss at birth, they tend not to follow up with further testing.

We guess that this is due to the lack of encouragement from the family physician. We remember when our daughter failed the hearing screening at birth, our doctor was all reassuring that nothing is wrong. We were temporarily lulled into a false sense of security by his claims.

It is important that family physicians become more educated regarding infant hearing loss and the treatments available. By becoming aware of the importance of early hearing loss detection and intervention, many hearing impaired children would receive treatment earlier on.

The Hearing Loss Fact Sheet shows the costs of a hearing impaired person when they are not treated timely. Now, with the advent of cochlear implants, children should be receiving them in much greater numbers.

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