MY GIRL HEARD FOR THE FIRST TIME... AT TWO!
THE BUBBLY TODDLER IS PROUD AS PUNCH OF HER COCHLEAR IMPLANTS
Four-year-old Arlo Gleeson is thriving after receiving the precious gift of sound through a cochlear implant in her right ear. Born with bilateral sensory neural hearing loss, Arlo was first fitted with hearing aids at just 3 months old.
But the toddler takes it all in her stride – and her mum, Lauren, says the electronic device that stimulates
the cochlear nerve has been life-changing for the whole family.
“Arlo is so confident and outgoing. She’s actually really proud of her implant and the hearing aid in her left ear, too,” Lauren, 35, tells
New Idea. “There’s nothing she can’t hear anymore.”
Life has been far from easy for the Gleeson family since Arlo was born at 30 weeks, weighing a tiny 1.4kg.
After enduring a sevenweek hospital stay, Lauren and husband, Mitch, from Port Macquarie, NSW, were ready to take Arlo home to her brother Jet, 9, when a routine test revealed the diagnosis.
“We thought we could finally take our baby home – the excitement was real,” recalls Lauren. “Then suddenly we were back in unknown territory.”
While Lauren and Mitch were terrified of the implant surgery, which involved drilling through Arlo’s skull, they were thrilled to watch their resilient toddler bounce back the next day, laughing and clapping in her hospital bed.
Two weeks later in early 2018, Arlo had her implant turned on at a low level and the sound has been gradually increased over time.
“I just kept calling her name and I remember watching her little eyes widening as she looked around, listening to her new world,” says Lauren, a former early childhood teacher.
Lauren says the incredible support she received from a social worker at the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, and the staff at the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) – which has now been renamed Nextsense – helped her stay positive and seek support.
Now there is no stopping her little girl, who is constantly achieving her hearing, listening and speech goals.
“We will always be grateful for this amazing piece of technology that will enable our precious girl to achieve all she can,” Lauren says.
• To find out more about hearing- and vision-loss support services for Australians of all ages, visit Nextsense online.