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Device Helps Deaf Chicago Baby Hear For First Time - News - NBC5.com | WMAQ
A Chicago baby receives the gift of hearing, and at just six months old, becomes one of the youngest babies in the world to get implanted hearing devices in both ears.
It was the best cry Hadley Haas has ever heard from her baby because it means 7-month-old Bennett is hearing something for the first time in his life.
Bennett is nearly deaf because of a genetic defect, which doctors found when he was just a newborn thanks to a test required by Illinois law.
"We had a very good idea at 1 week old that he had a hearing loss," said Haas.
So earlier this month, when Bennett had just reached six months, Children's Memorial Dr. Nancy Young implanted cochlear implants under the skin, behind both of the baby's ears.
The earlier a child hears, the more likely they'll hear well and develop normal speech and language.
A microphone and computer chip on the outside send sound to the receiver implanted under the skin. And that relays signals around the damaged inner ear, directly to Bennett's brain
But Bennett will literally have to learn to hear -- and that will be work. Nevertheless, it makes him more like other children his age.
"He will be recognizing his name and probably able to recognize simple commands from his parents," said Young. "We think with him being implanted so young he'll have almost a normal progression."
Cochlear implants aren't without their detractors -- some say it is easier to be deaf and use sign language than to have to learn how to hear and never be pushed to learn sign language.
A Chicago baby receives the gift of hearing, and at just six months old, becomes one of the youngest babies in the world to get implanted hearing devices in both ears.
It was the best cry Hadley Haas has ever heard from her baby because it means 7-month-old Bennett is hearing something for the first time in his life.
Bennett is nearly deaf because of a genetic defect, which doctors found when he was just a newborn thanks to a test required by Illinois law.
"We had a very good idea at 1 week old that he had a hearing loss," said Haas.
So earlier this month, when Bennett had just reached six months, Children's Memorial Dr. Nancy Young implanted cochlear implants under the skin, behind both of the baby's ears.
The earlier a child hears, the more likely they'll hear well and develop normal speech and language.
A microphone and computer chip on the outside send sound to the receiver implanted under the skin. And that relays signals around the damaged inner ear, directly to Bennett's brain
But Bennett will literally have to learn to hear -- and that will be work. Nevertheless, it makes him more like other children his age.
"He will be recognizing his name and probably able to recognize simple commands from his parents," said Young. "We think with him being implanted so young he'll have almost a normal progression."
Cochlear implants aren't without their detractors -- some say it is easier to be deaf and use sign language than to have to learn how to hear and never be pushed to learn sign language.