Hearing Aids At Age Six: Leaves make sounds when you step on them?

Kenneth was born premature. He was 7lbs 1oz, but his lungs were underdeveloped.Kenneth caught pneumonia during labor and was born struggling to breath. He was rushed to a children's hospital in Little Rock, AR that day. The next day his lungs collapsed and he was given high levels of oxygen to keep him alive. We didn't know it then, but the oxygen levels were high enough to damage the nerves in his ears. This left him with 85% loss of his hearing in both ears.


Kenneth fought for his life and he won his fight and was released from the hospital just two weeks later, the day before my High School Graduation.

The early years with Kenneth were trying times. I was a young mother suffering from what we thought was depression, but later found out it was Bipolar Disorder. Kenneth was the most active child I have ever known. He would bounce around without a care in the world. Trying to get Kenneth to listen was a chore at best, an impossibility if you're honest. He didn't seem to listen to anyone. In addition to this, he was a late speaker. He fell way behind in language, I didn't think he'd ever speak. He finally began to speak, but his pronunciation was poor and it was difficult for him to effectively communicate..

Kenneth entered a day care at age 3 and then entered PreK at age 4. When he entered PreK, we discovered that his language and speech skills were at the same level of the average 2 1/2 year old. Because of his language difficulties, he did poorly in school. Some school personnel even suggested to me that the high oxygen levels could have caused mild brain damage. I knew this wasn't so because he was so smart. He could figure out how anything worked, he was very mechanically inclined.


No one even suspected hearing loss because he had passed his hearing test with flying colors. I had even taken him for another one just to be sure and it came back that he passed. No matter how hard we worked, his grades were no where near where they should have been. He was in speech and making no progress with that either. His teacher noticed that he was having trouble with attention so we decided to go to the doctor and he was diagnosed with ADHD and was put on meds which helped his attention, but he still made no progress with his grades.


Kenneth went on to kindergarten the following year with similar results and I chose to hold him back rather than allow him to go on to first grade behind.

Kenneth was taken to a hearing specialist by his dad. She had to test him several times to get reliable results because Kenneth was raising his hand when he wanted to, he was passing, but giving different answers each time. This is the reason he went so long without the hearing loss being detected. Once it was discovered that he had hearing loss, we began the process of being fitted for hearing aids.


The day Kenneth got his hearing aids was an emotional day for us all. It was one of the happiest days of my life. When the audiologist put the aids in Kenneth's ears, his face lit up like it was Christmas morning. I can only imagine what it must have sounded like, what it must have felt like. I can't comprehend how amazing it must have been for him at that moment.


I do know what sounds he had never heard up to this miraculous day. When Kenneth stood up and began to walk in the office he stopped and then cocked his head to one side, then took a few more steps. He then smiled the biggest smile I have ever seen and began stomping his feet. He had never heard the sounds he made as he walked. By this time I was crying tears of joy and amazement. As we left the office I noticed that he was happier than I had ever seen him.


On the ride home, not long after leaving the parking lot, Kenneth asked what a sound was. I asked him what sound he was talking about. He listened some more and exclaimed " It's the cars, I can hear the cars". Kenneth had heard cars before, but he had never heard cars while being inside a car. I was crying harder then and was praising God in my heart.


The next few hours were filled with "what's that mama?", "What's that sound?", "I can hear that". When we arrived at my granny's house that day kenneth jumped off the porch into a pile of leaves and then stopped in his tracks. "Leaves make sounds!" He proceeded to stomp and shuffle and roll through the leaves. It was an amazing sight! I can't describe how it feels to see a child of 6 experience the world around him as a baby experiences the world for the first time.


Kenneth had never heard the seal of a refrigerator break when the door opens. He had never heard a bird chirp. He had never heard so many things. The next few days, weeks, months, even years were filled with firsts for Kenneth. Even now he hears something every once in a while for the first time and I get to see that look on his face and in his eyes that I saw on day he received his hearing aids.

What I forgot and Kenneth remembered.
I read this to Kenneth and he reminded me about hearing the sounds of his hair rustling when he put on his cap. I remembered about it when he brought it up, but that was one detail I didn't recall when thinking of this story. To find out a child remembers that is to realize just how wonderful it was for him. I knew he thought about and remembered that day, but I had no idea that he remembered so many details.

Kenneth worked as hard as he could to make all S+'s the first 9 weeks and he came close. The second 9 weeks he succeeded in his goal. With much hard work he realized a dream and that was the first time in his life he felt he had accomplished something great. No matter how hard I tried to shield him and no matter how hard I worked to show him how much I loved him and tell him how smart he was, he never felt that way until the day he was presented with the "S+" student award.


It changed his life to feel accomplished and to this day he continues to set goals and meet them.Kenneth is in second grade. He has achieved greatness in several ways. He reads on grade level which is amazing because of his delays. He is in advanced math. He makes A's and B's in all subjects. His speech has greatly improved. He is great with computers and is an avid gamer. Kenneth has overcome so much and he inspires me daily.