Learning to listen: A journey with deafness

Before her son’s first birthday, Xi began to worry that something was wrong. “Bosyn was only around a year old, but I could tell he was very distracted — he wouldn’t look up when a phone rang or when a character in a movie yelled,” recalls Xi. “He would respond more to bright lights or colors than to sounds.” The nine months following his second birthday were filled with appointments, inconclusive hearing tests and pediatricians dismissing Xi’s worries because she was a first-time parent. But Xi couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. The family decided to travel from their hometown in upstate New York to Boston Children’s Hospital to seek a second opinion from the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program (DHHP) in the Department of Otolaryngology. There, they met a team of professionals with experience providing diagnosis and guidance for children who are deaf or hard of hearing, and their parents. Otolaryngologist Dr. Margaret Kenna confirmed Xi’s maternal instinct: Bosyn had a type of deafness called bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, which was likely progressive, and caused by anatomical abnormalities of the inner ear structures. Xi’s heart filled with a combination of relief, frustration and fear. She finally had a concrete diagnosis, but just about everything else was still an overwhelming unknown. How extensive was Bosyn’s hearing loss? Where would they even start with treatment? Where would he go to school? Moving forward: Living with...
Source: Thrive, Children's Hospital Boston - Category: Pediatrics Authors: Tags: Our Patients’ Stories Deaf and Hard of Hearing Program Dr Jennifer Johnston Margaret Kenna Otolaryngology Department Terrell Clark Source Type: news