Real People, Real Quotes

About the website...


October, 2007
My name is *****, and I'm a complete stranger, but I needed to tell you that I just came across your beautiful website about your children with cochlear implants.  I'm sitting at my desk in tears because it's so wonderful to hear success stories like yours.  My son was diagnosed with severe to profound loss at 11 weeks old.  He's 17 weeks today and we've started the next chapter in his life.  I feel I am still grieving over this loss, but my husband and I have been proactive and have started with Early Intervention and hope we are on the road to an implant.  We are both hearing and were completely overwhelmed by this diagnosis.  I just wanted to let you know that I'll be back to your website when I have more time to absorb all of the fantastic information you have posted.  Thank you so much for putting your lives out there for all to see and learn from! - parent of deaf infant

August, 2007
Our daughter of 7 weeks has just been diagnosed with profound hearing loss
in both ears. I am inspired by your website and it looks like your kids are
doing very well. They are certainly adorable. We are exploring the
cochlear implant with great hopes. -parent

March, 2006

I just checked out Elliot’s new video on your site, and his speech is just amazing! -parent of implanted child

February, 2004


Thank you so much for the video of Elliot!!!  It is incredible how well his speech is!!!  My normal hearing four year old did not speak that clear at 3!  We are so encouraged by Elliot’s progress. - parent of implanted child

April, 2003
 WOW! Those clips are amazing! I'd never guess that he was born deaf, he's so easy to understand!  I shared your site with my mother. She just started working at SD University in the Communications Disorders lab as a general secretary/receptionist. -parent of two hearing children

February, 2004

In the last four days I have gone through a range of emotions and am now in the mindset of learning and developing a solution for my son. He was diagnosed last Thursday with profound hearing loss in both ears. After reading your Web site, I was truely amazed at the power of a cochlear implant. I have read the pros and cons from all communities, (deaf, hearing, medical, etc.) and I feel this is the best option. It is unfortunate, but in our society hearing is a necessity. -parent of a newly diagnosed child



About life with a CI...

I wanted to share some news - My daughter Rachel, age 18, has been studying
French for 4 years.  She is now in AP French.  Her French teacher entered
her into an annual state competition sponsored by the Foreign Language
Association of **** (state redacted).  It is an oral only competition.  There is no
written portion.  The competition involved Rachel conversing in French with
the judges.  She was entered at the advanced level and received a rating of
superior, which is the highest. 

When Rachel's deafness was first diagnosed when she was two months old, one
of the audiologists at the hospital was very discouraging to us.  He called
the A.G. Bell Association "a bunch of extremists" and told us that Rachel
would probably never learn to speak English well.  I'd love to tell him
that, not only did she learn to speak English well, but also French. -parent of two implanted children