Born Deaf
Felix's hearing loss was diagnosed at just one day old thanks to the early screening hearing program which is run in most hospitals .
This is his story.
Felix at 16 months of age
Here's a link to his latest little chatting on Youtube. "We're quite excited about the outcome," says his proud mother Jo. "His latest test put his speech development in the 99th percentile."
Download a copy of Felix's myStory Brochure
Felix was born completely deaf. This was picked up by the newborn SWISH screening program when he was one day old. Less than three weeks later we had a diagnosis of profound deafness. That we were in complete shock was an understatement. It was heartbreaking and we grieved for a long time. We had no experience of deafness and had no idea what to expect. Would he ever hear or speak? What kind of life would he lead? We immediately began arming ourselves with knowledge. We wanted to improve Felix's chances at a life like ours.
Cochlear implants were offered as an option to us at his initial diagnosis. We trialed hearing aids but they didn't help Felix to hear anything. We didn't hesitate in our decision to proceed and were disappointed that we had to wait until he was five months old for the surgery as we were eager to begin Felix hearing. Of course it was scary for us as parents but we wanted this for him, and decided to go ahead with simultaneous bilateral surgery and simultaneous switch on two weeks later.
What an amazing moment in time - when Felix first heard sound. To see him hear and respond to sound for the first time ever was just pure joy. He was so little but the way he stopped and started sucking his dummy whenever a noise was made was just beautiful for a parent. We could tell him we loved him and he could hear us. Baby babbling had never sounded so beautiful to us. He progressed rapidly and had easily caught up with his hearing peers within five months. New sounds were a fascination to him and he was always trying to locate their source, turning his head. We believe the simultaneous bilateral implantation and switch on made this more natural for him.
One year on, with lots of early intervention therapy, and his two Cochlear implants, Felix is the happiest, most social and chatty little toddler. He adores his big sister and to see them talking with each other as they play just makes my day, every day. He knows what his "ears" are for. When they fall off, he comes to me and says "fix ear". We can't ask him what it sounds like, but knowing that he wants keep them on assures us he prefers life with them.
As a mum to a baby born with no hearing, I want other parents to know that there is hope. There is a very real grief that parents must go through when they are told of a hearing loss in their perfect little baby, and that it is ok to feel this grief. But there is light, and an amazing resilience in children who teach you so much and bring so much to your lives. There isn't a day when I don't wish I could take it all on myself and away from him, but he just gets on with his busy job of playing each day and has great fun doing it.