The FDA recently lowered the age criteria for children to receive cochlear implants to just seven months old, a shift that promises better developmental outcomes but leaves many parents deeply hesitant. Our experts this week demystifies the procedure – including why the actual surgical recovery might be far easier than families expect.
Guest Information:
- Dr. Nancy Young, medical director of Audiology and Cochlear Implant Programs, The Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Lillian S. Wells professor in pediatric otolaryngology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
- Eva and Doug Tweedy, parents
Many parents are understandably hesitant for their new baby to undergo a procedure. however, Dr. Nancy Young says it’s not as bad as people assume. In fact, she says the recovery is easier than if they’d had their tonsils taken out.
Tweedy’s daughter, Ella, had been diagnosed with profound bilateral sensori-neural hearing loss, meaning that she had almost a complete inability to hear sound in both ears. Soon after her procedure, Ella was set up with a team of therapists to help develop her listening and spoken language.
As soon as Ella could begin using her implant, the therapists gave Eva and Doug some tactics to help her development. One major practice was narration.
Leave a Reply