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Implant helps deaf student achieve honor | thedailyjournal.com | The Daily Journal
There was a time in Amber Sprenger's life when only her mother could understand what she was saying.
About six years ago, everything changed.
It was then that Amber, now 12, had a cochlear implant. The procedure, which involves surgically implanting a system of electrodes inside the ear and then connecting them to transmitter's and microphones placed on the outside of the ear, allows users to better interpret sounds.
The surgery gave her a chance to hear for the first time in her life. Friday -- because of her new ability to hear and years of hard work -- Amber was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society at Deerfield Township School.
"It's amazing," Amber's mother Kelly Mauro said of her daughter's progress. "It's something any parent in the position I was in six years ago would want to hear."
Amber said she was somewhere between "shy and excited" to be inducted, but knows the long-term benefits are worth the one evening.
She timidly said she was honored because "I get straight As," which is important "so you can get on honor roll and get good grades on your report card."
Amber was born completely deaf. She lived half her life in complete silence before she became eligible for the surgery.
She is the only student with a hearing impairment in her school, her mother said, though she's never had trouble doing well academically or fitting in. She was the first child with a hearing impairment to be inducted at her school, said Leo Darmstadter, the society advisor at Deerfield.
Amber has been involved in several after-school activities, for which she doesn't have the interpreter who is with her during the school day. She's played volleyball and field hockey, made the cheerleading squad twice and served with student council.
Her stepfather Jim Mauro is amazed with how Amber has "changed and adapted to be in the mainstream."
"Everything she does she does herself," Kelly Mauro added. "She doesn't have a learning disability, she has a hearing impairment. We didn't keep her away from the hearing world. We looked at her as just normal."
The device in her ear certainly helped Amber become the smart, outgoing student her family and teachers see, but her mother explained her strong work ethic helped.
Amber attended school for the first few months of the year without her earpiece after losing it during the summer. She fell behind at school, but quickly made up the work after getting a new earpiece.
The work paid off when she received the invitation to the honors society induction May 1.
"I'm thrilled. I couldn't ask for anything more," Kelly Mauro said.
There was a time in Amber Sprenger's life when only her mother could understand what she was saying.
About six years ago, everything changed.
It was then that Amber, now 12, had a cochlear implant. The procedure, which involves surgically implanting a system of electrodes inside the ear and then connecting them to transmitter's and microphones placed on the outside of the ear, allows users to better interpret sounds.
The surgery gave her a chance to hear for the first time in her life. Friday -- because of her new ability to hear and years of hard work -- Amber was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society at Deerfield Township School.
"It's amazing," Amber's mother Kelly Mauro said of her daughter's progress. "It's something any parent in the position I was in six years ago would want to hear."
Amber said she was somewhere between "shy and excited" to be inducted, but knows the long-term benefits are worth the one evening.
She timidly said she was honored because "I get straight As," which is important "so you can get on honor roll and get good grades on your report card."
Amber was born completely deaf. She lived half her life in complete silence before she became eligible for the surgery.
She is the only student with a hearing impairment in her school, her mother said, though she's never had trouble doing well academically or fitting in. She was the first child with a hearing impairment to be inducted at her school, said Leo Darmstadter, the society advisor at Deerfield.
Amber has been involved in several after-school activities, for which she doesn't have the interpreter who is with her during the school day. She's played volleyball and field hockey, made the cheerleading squad twice and served with student council.
Her stepfather Jim Mauro is amazed with how Amber has "changed and adapted to be in the mainstream."
"Everything she does she does herself," Kelly Mauro added. "She doesn't have a learning disability, she has a hearing impairment. We didn't keep her away from the hearing world. We looked at her as just normal."
The device in her ear certainly helped Amber become the smart, outgoing student her family and teachers see, but her mother explained her strong work ethic helped.
Amber attended school for the first few months of the year without her earpiece after losing it during the summer. She fell behind at school, but quickly made up the work after getting a new earpiece.
The work paid off when she received the invitation to the honors society induction May 1.
"I'm thrilled. I couldn't ask for anything more," Kelly Mauro said.