My son will start school in September 2018, which for some may seem quite far away, but the time to pick a school is fast approaching and I just don’t feel quite ready.

For many parents of children with hearing loss, choosing a school for your deaf child can be overwhelming.

Should we send him to a mainstream school or deaf school? What is the best hearing technology for his classroom? How do I inform his teachers about his hearing loss?

When choosing a manufacturer and model of a cochlear implant for our son, Harry, there were a variety of options. One of the most important factors to us was that we wanted it to be waterproof.

This led us to choose the Advanced Bionics (AB) Neptune. Here is why we chose a waterproof cochlear implant for our son. 

James Knott, otherwise known as @daddyknott on social media, is the father to one-year-old Nelson, who is deaf. As a dad of a deaf child, James has been active in documenting his son’s hearing loss journey through his Instagram and YouTube channel.

I recently had a chance to talk to James about what it is like to be Nelson’s father. 

This is his story:

The first child in the state of Illinois – and one of the first in the USA – to be implanted with an Advanced Bionics body worn speech processor was recently crowned Miss Amazing California.

I first met Megan Swanson, a now 27-year-old with a profound, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, when she was two. Her family visited me to provide Auditory-Verbal therapy.

Although I do not recall the conversation I first had with her parents 25 years ago, I am confident I began by asking, “What is your vision for Megan’s future?” Their dreams had been shattered months before when Megan’s hearing loss was diagnosed. They were told that Megan will never speak, sing or dance.

Karen says she remembers thinking: just watch us prove you wrong.

This month marks Harry’s hearing birthday, meaning he has been hearing now through his cochlear implants for two years!

I really have nothing but positive news for you in this little update on Harry’s hearing progress. Not only has my toddler naturally grown into a little, strapping lad, but his behavior, speech, language and communication skills have also come on leaps and bounds. He seemed to settle into life with a cochlear implant almost instantly, and he loves to hear so much.  In fact his favourite thing to say is “what’s that sound?!”

“…his favourite thing to say is ‘what’s that sound?!'”

Here are four things I’ve noticed so far with Harry, after two years with his cochlear implants:

My son’s cochlear implant has changed all of our lives, especially his, so we like to mark his ”hearing birthday” with a little celebration every year. 

I can’t believe he has been hearing now for almost 2 years! (I also can’t believe I have a three-year-old!) Time has zoomed by, but we have had already so many special moments of him hearing. 

Here are some of my favorite ways to celebrate his hearing birthday:

So you found out your child has severe hearing loss.

Maybe you discovered it during a newborn hearing screening, or maybe they were already a few months old and not responding to your voice.  Your child might already have hearing aids, or you might be discussing with an audiologist about getting your child fit with a cochlear implant. 

You and your child may just be embarking on their hearing journey, and it may seem overwhelming. Especially because it could take months or even years before your child can be considered and then fit with a cochlear implant. But there are still a lot of things you can do to prepare them for being implanted, and help develop their communication skills long before activation day.

Although life has certainly improved since he received his cochlear implants, we still face challenges with Harry being deaf. 

However these challenges present themselves we seem to be able to deal with them and resolve them with few problems so far.

I am constantly being flooded with questions about Harry’s cochlear implant.

Whilst I am so happy and comfortable answering them, I know that some parents of children with hearing technology find it hard to talk about or explain to someone about them. Especially those whom have never had experience with a cochlear implant user before.

In this post I am going to cover common questions I am asked, and tell you the best way that I answer them!