WHY?

"24,000 children are born each year in the U.S. with some degree of hearing loss. Most of these children are born to parents with normal hearing, who have had no experience with deafness or hearing loss of any kind. It is natural to feel overwhelmed and unprepared to deal with the situation. It is important to remember that you are not alone."

--Excerpt taken from www.babyhearing.org

Like most of "these parents" we had no knowledge or experience with hearing loss. We were stunned when we received Abigail's diagnosis. In fact, I remember very clearly arguing with the audiologist that there must be a mistake, that she was fussy during the ABR, that I had moved too much. But in the end the diagnosis was correct and the next question was, "But Why?"

There are many reasons for congenital hearing loss:

1. In-utero infections
2. Low birth-weigh/Premature birth
3. Genetic loss/Syndromic or Non-syndromic
4. Violent labor contractions/strong assisted delivery

Since my husband and I did not have any of the risk factors for hearing loss during my pregnancy or delivery we were told more than likely Abigail's loss was due to a genetic factor. There would be a few tests that would be run to confirm this. A CAT scan to rule out congenital deformities in the ear, blood tests to rule out infection, an examination by an ENT to rule out cysts in the ear canal as well as a genetic profile.

In addition to examining her ears, the ENT would also provide medical clearance for Abigail's hearing aids. This was a necessary step in order the get the ball rolling on the hearing aids, we were anxious to get them as soon as possible. We had done quite a bit of research and had learned that children with moderate hearing loss can develop speech with little delay if they receive hearing aids by the age of three months. Since three months yielded such a positive outcome, I decided that a goal of aided hearing at two months would be even better.