A couple from Ohio never thought they would have kids who would be born with profound hearing loss. More so, they never believed their deaf sons would hear them one day.
Siblings Silas and Isaiah, five and two years old, respectively, were born to parents Steve and Felicia Aquilo. Both kids were born with a profound hearing loss despite their parents having no hearing problem, and no family history, as an indication.
The parents thought their children's deafness would be a burden for the family as they grew up and for their children when they reached adulthood until they were introduced to cochlear implants.
Silas and Isaiah got the implants at very early ages. Silas at 18 months old and Isaiah at ten months. This is because the couple was informed that the earlier it is done, the better chances the kids will have to develop spoken language.
Seeing both her sons finally have the opportunity to hear was "purely magic," Felicia described to People.
"I didn't know if they would ever hear me say, 'I love you,' or if they would ever use their voices," she emotionally said. "It's truly a miracle for them not to have sound, and then all of a sudden be able to access the things that we're hearing. It was a magical experience," the mother joyfully expressed.
Cochlear implants
Felicia narrated that it was a complete shock to them when Silas was diagnosed. They never considered the possibility as neither of their families has a deaf family member. After the diagnosis, she grieved, worrying about the relationship they would be having with a child who is deaf because of the communication gap and about what his life will be like. The stress was also piling up, knowing that she and her husband were ignorant about the deaf culture and community.
It took her six months in the grieving process before she decided to jump into American Sign Language (ASL). The couple started implementing some signs with Silas. His first signs were "mom" and "milk" at seven months.
Their son Isaiah came after three years, and he was diagnosed with "severe to profound" hearing loss, which means that he has some access to some frequencies, but to most, he cannot access without hearing devices. He also cannot develop spoken languages as he cannot get speech sounds without using hearing devices.
Felicia and Steve initially wanted to delay having cochlear implants for their kids. They wished for their sons to decide on their own if they wanted the surgery or not. However, after speaking to several professionals who encouraged them to get the implants as young as possible for better chances to develop spoken language, the parents knew what needed to be done.
The cochlear implant, according to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, is a small and complex electronic device that can help provide a deaf person with a sense of sound. It does not restore normal hearing but can give deaf individuals a "useful representation" of sound in their environment and help them understand speech.
It has external and internal portions. The external sits behind the ear while the internal is implanted under the skin. It has a microphone, which picks up the sound; speech processors, which select and arrange picked up sounds; a transmitter and receiver/stimulator, which receive signals from the speech processor and convert these into electric impulses; and an electrode array, which collects the impulses and distributes them to the auditory nerve's different regions.
Read More : Parents Seek Compensation Over Significant Test Failures at NHS Lothian's Child Hearing Service
It's a marathon, not a sprint
Felicia shared that one of the best moments they had with their kids was when they told Silas that his brother would have cochlear implants just like him. And Silas's reaction was genuine excitement, exclaiming that his brother would also have ears like him.
After Isaiah's surgery, Silas would make sure to sign Isaiah if he was not wearing his processors or if his little brother's fell off, he was ready to put them back on. Silas would change it himself or tell his mommy if he noticed that the battery was dead.
Felicia pays it forward by documenting their family's experiences raising two kids with cochlear implants and posting these on her social media, like her Instagram account. She desires to help other families going through the same challenges as theirs, like how their family has been assisted and supported.
In a recent Instagram post, Felecia reminded parents of implanted children that it can still get hard despite the surgery and the machine. In the video, she and Silas are still having communication struggles despite four years worth of therapy, oral preschool, and sign language, and most of the time, it ends in frustration. She reminded parents that "it's a marathon, not a sprint," thus, tons of patience is needed.
Related article: Wedding Officiant Learns Sign Language For Deaf Flower Girl, Mother Brought To Tears
