Emily’s History
When Emily was born, universal newborn hearing screens were not performed at birth in the hospital as they are today. Her parents assumed that she was just a good sleeper, able to tune out the loud sounds of her toddler brother. But at four months, they noticed that Emily wasn’t cooing, babbling or responding like other babies. They had her hearing checked, and the diagnosis was profound deafness. Emily’s cochlea was non-functional, preventing any sound from being transmitted from her ears to her brain.
Emily’s parents researched possible solutions and a cochlear implant appeared to be the best alternative.…
