Early Detection is Key for Children With Hearing Problems

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Early Detection is Key for Children With Hearing Problem

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Audiologists say that in the first few years of life, hearing is a critical part of a child’s social, emotional, and cognitive development; and a hearing problem could put a child at a disadvantage. Audiologists recommend that children have regular hearing tests while their young, and parents should be especially aware if their child is experiencing: a delay in speech development, articulation errors, or mispronouncing words; all of which could be a result of children not hearing words correctly, or even at all according to Franciscan Skemp Audiologist Ryan Gregg.

Hearing Center Director Makes State Listen

Times Leader

By David Weiss
June 1, 2008
KINGSTON – Dr. Louis Sieminski saw how hearing impairment could destroy a life.

His high school friend, Ray Holup, was a standout basketball player, earning a full scholarship to George Washington University.

But Holup was severely hearing impaired, Sieminski said. And he ended up flunking out of school because he felt too embarrassed to wear his huge hearing aid.

Sieminski wanted to do something to prevent that from happening to anyone else.

Holup’s disability prodded Sieminski to become a doctor of speech pathology and audiology. Then he used his expertise to help write state legislation making it mandatory for all newborns to be screened for hearing impairments.

There’s a reason, he said, he wanted it done at such an early age. The earlier the impairment is detected, the quicker it can be treated and the better the chance that baby will have to lead a normal life, he said.

He’s already seen it work.

With Hearing Restored, “You Can Shut Me Up Now”

Hometown Annapolis   

By Shantee Woodards 

June 1, 2008

It took more than 30 years, but Edwin Shaffer Jr. got used to life without sound.

Mr. Shaffer’s two hearing aids were of little use, so he made his own adjustments. He taught himself to read lips, switched the television to always show the closed captioning and avoided many social settings. Whenever he would take long drives with his wife, Rosemarie, in the passenger seat, they wouldn’t talk because he was unable to read her lips while driving.

All of this made Mr. Shaffer, 71, a viable candidate for cochlear implant surgery, which connects a tiny hearing device to the inner ear. He had the surgery in December at Anne Arundel Medical Center, becoming the first patient to receive the procedure there.

He recently completed therapy and said he is pleased with all the new sounds he can hear - the voices of his relatives, birds chirping. Even the click-clack of his dog’s toenails scraping across the floor has become an enjoyable sound.

Author’s Daughter Lives To The Beat Of A Different Drum

By Amy Bertrand

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

May 31, 2008

Veronica Schroeder, who is deaf, knows that there is something different and special about her. She also thinks there is something different about her brother: He has freckles.

“We’ve always taught her that everyone is different in their own way,” their mom, Annette, says.

Veronica’s birth

Veronica was born on Valentine’s Day, six years ago. She was born with a white patch of hair just above her forehead. Her pediatrician informed her parents that could mean Waardenburg Syndrome, a genetic condition marked by the white patch of hair, brilliant blue eyes, hearing loss and sometimes more serious problems. However, when Veronica passed her newborn hearing test, everyone figured she was fine.

Months passed, and Veronica thrived like any other baby, but her parents thought there was something not quite right about her hearing. So she was tested again, and passed again.

Her parents still weren’t buying into it.

“We wanted to, believe me,” Annette says.

At 10 months old, Veronica was taken to the hospital for an ABR, auditory brainstem response. She was sedated for the procedure, which concluded that Veronica was “profoundly deaf and she probably has been since birth.” It turns out, the machine at the hospital used on her two previous tests was broken.

“We knew it,” Annette says. “But it still hit us like a ton of bricks.”

Cochlear implants

After much researching, the Schroeders decided to get cochlear implants (one at 10 months and a second at 4 years) for Veronica. They enrolled her at the Moog Center for Deaf Education in Town and Country.

One year after implantation, activation and training from the Moog Center, Veronica finally spoke her first words.

“And she has this beautiful little voice,” Annette says.

Today, with her implants in, Veronica can hear just fine. But when she takes them off, for bed, bath or swimming, she can’t hear a thing. Annette works with her on lip reading and signing for the times when she can’t hear.

The future

Annette’s struggles to find answers after the diagnosis and the questions she received from family and friends led her to write a book, ” ‘Hear’ is Veronica.” It’s a book explaining cochlear implants to children.

“We’ve had teachers read it, and coaches. It’s been a good resource, and I think it’s helped Veronica.”

Next year, Veronica will start kindergarten at a mainstream school, St. Theresa’s in Belleville. “We chose that because of the class size. Background noise is her main enemy.”

When asked if there is anything Veronica can’t do because of her hearing loss, Annette thought about it for a while and said, “No, there is nothing she can’t do.”

Bilateral cochlear implants: A case when 2 are definitely superior to 1

PhysOrg.com

May 29, 2008

A study of cochlear implant patients seen by Indiana University School of Medicine physicians is the first research to show evidence that cochlear implants in both ears significantly improves quality of life in patients with profound hearing loss and that the cost of the second implant is offset by its benefits.

The study, which appears in the May issue of the journal Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, found that improvements in factors that contribute to quality of life including such critical abilities as hearing in noisy environments, focusing on conversations, and speaking at an appropriate volume resulted when cochlear devices were implanted in both ears.

This study may have a significant impact for profoundly deaf individuals who hope to have their health insurance providers pay for bilateral rather than the standard single cochlear implant. The study authors found the benefits of the second implant outweighed the added cost of the second device.

“We didn’t know that cognitive skills and emotional issues would so significantly improve with the implantation of a second cochlear device. In addition to the physiological improvements we saw in patients who had bilateral implants, we found that patients were able to function better in noisy environments and definitely felt better about themselves,” said senior study author Richard Miyamoto, M.D., Arilla Spence DeVault Professor and chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.

Aetna Policy Change Covers Bilateral Cochlear Implants

Hearing Exchange

By Paula Rosenthal

May 22, 2008

Great news on the cochlear implant insurance reimbursement front. Aetna recently changed its policy to include coverage for bilateral cochlear implants for eligible insurees over the age of 12 months. Their change of heart came just as an advocacy group was to file a class action lawsuit against them.

The Let Them Hear Foundation is to be commended for its diligence in helping to persuade Aetna to join the four other national health insurance companies currently covering bilateral cochlear implants. After 2 1/2 years and 28 appeals during which Aetna argued that bilateral cochlear implants were experimental and/or investigational, Let Them Hear won a classic David vs. Goliath battle. According to Let Them Hear, there are over 40 published scientific articles refuting Aetna’s claims.

In addition to Aetna, the other leading health insurance companies covering bilateral cochlear implants for eligible candidates are: CIGNA, Blue Shield, Blue Cross Association, Tufts, Harvard Pilgrim and Medica.

Side Note: Congratulations to Michael Chorost of Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human fame. Michael is scheduled for his second cochlear implant surgery on December 17th and will join the ranks of bilaterally implanted adults thanks to Aetna’s new coverage. Do I “hear” another book coming?

Inside the Complex Worlds of Deafness and Deaf Culture in America

Voice of America

May 19, 2008

More than three hundred million people live in the United States. By some estimates, about one million of them are deaf and almost ten million are hard of hearing.

A few years ago, Gallaudet University researcher Ross Mitchell wrote a paper about these estimates from findings by the Census Bureau. The estimates suggest that less than one in twenty Americans is deaf or hard of hearing.

But as he pointed out, these findings are limited to people who report difficulty hearing normal conversation. They do not include the larger population of people with hearing loss who have difficulty hearing other sounds.

VOICE TWO:

Some loss of hearing is normal as people age. More than half the people with hearing loss or deafness are sixty-five or older. Less than four percent are under eighteen. But many things can cause hearing loss, including a head injury or noises like gunfire or loud music. In some cases, unless they have a hearing test, people may not recognize the damage until later in life.

Some people have become deaf after taking powerful antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs. Cancer drugs can also sometimes damage hearing.

The same is true with infections. Meningitis is the most common cause of hearing loss among children in the United States.

And deafness can be genetic. One genetic cause of hearing loss is a nervous system disorder called neurofibromatosis. Growths develop on nerves, especially those in the ear.

VOICE ONE:

Anne Shigley is a college student with neurofibromatosis type two. She began to lose her hearing at the age of six. Doctors found growths on her auditory nerves and on her spinal cord.

They removed some of the growths. But in her senior year of high school, Anne went deaf. That was two years ago. Last year, she received an auditory brainstem implant. This device is placed on the nerve center at the base of the brain. Experts say it is the only device that can restore limited hearing to More about Anne a little later.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

People with hearing loss may wear hearing aids inside their ears to increase the loudness of sounds. People who are deaf may have cochlear implants. These require an operation. A cochlear implant can provide what the experts call a sense of sound. The device changes sounds into electrical signals and sends them to different areas of the cochlear nerve in the ear.

Cochlear implants do not create normal hearing. But experts say they can give deaf people a useful representation of sounds. This can help them in understanding speech. It may take months, though, to be able to make sense of the sounds that they are now able to hear.

VOICE ONE:

Trena Shank is deaf. She teaches American Sign Language at Ohio State University. She says the use of cochlear implants has been much discussed lately in the deaf community. This is partly because doctors are now able to offer them for babies.

Trena Shank says cochlear implants work best in people who have some hearing and in those who lost their hearing later in life. But she is against the use of cochlear implants in very young children or those who are completely deaf. She believes that having an implant can damage feelings of self-worth in children. The children are not accepted in the deaf world, nor are they part of the hearing one either, she says.

VOICE TWO:

Some critics of cochlear implants in babies go so far as to say that supporters are disrespecting deaf culture, or even trying to destroy it. They say they understand that people who became deaf later in life would want technology to help them hear again. But many people who have always been deaf do not consider themselves disabled. They say they are just different and in no need of a cure.

Some people, though, say deaf people should be well informed about the technology available before they make any decisions. This is the position of a group in California called the Let Them Hear Foundation.

VOICE ONE:

Spokeswoman Caitlin Roberson says the group respects whatever decision a deaf person makes, for themselves or family members. She says the goal of the foundation is to bring hearing to those who want it.

Representatives travel internationally to teach doctors and others about cochlear implants and other hearing devices. Some of the companies that support the Let Them Hear Foundation make cochlear implants.

The group is active in efforts in the United States to get insurance companies to pay for the implants. They cost between eighty thousand and more than one hundred thousand dollars each.

Let Them Hear Foundation helps those with hearing loss
The North Platte Telegraph
By John Lindenberger
April 30, 2008
Last week, we reported on Kevin Fries’ battle in trying to obtain insurance coverage for his son’s cochlear implant and the miracle that occurred when the manufacturer offered to pay for the implant as well as the surgery.

Before Fries received this miraculous news, he was preparing to seek help from the Let Them Hear Foundation’s Advocacy Program, a team of legal professionals who assist patients with hearing loss.

However, this legal advocacy is just a small part of the organization that also provides a clinical services team, an international medical missions team and a training center, according to Public Relations Manager Caitlin Roberson.

“The Let Them Hear Foundation is passionate about bringing the miracle of hearing to those who choose not to live in silence in the U.S. and around the world, particularly those of challenged circumstances,” Roberson said. “We facilitate access to hearing medical care for all, regardless of income level, insurance provider or country of residence.”

Based in East Palo Alto, Calif., the Let Them Hear Foundation was founded by Dr. Joseph Roberson, a world leader in ear surgery. The organization operates in conjunction with the California Ear Institute in Northern California.

Since its inception in 2003, the Let Them Hear Foundation has trained leading doctors from 17 different countries, including two-thirds of the cochlear-implant surgeons in China. The foundation has also coached nearly 1,000 clinicians and schoolteachers.

Since 2006, the organization has achieved healthcare coverage for 158 million Americans who were formerly denied and prompted nine of the nation’s 10 major U.S. insurers to alter their policies to include coverage for bilateral cochlear implants.

For more information about the Let Them Hear Foundation, call 650-462-3143 or go to www.letthemhear.org.

Let Them Hear
The North Platte Telegraph
By John Lindenberger
April 23, 2008

After unsuccessfully trying to get insurance coverage for a much-needed cochlear implant for his hearing-impaired son, former North Platte resident Kevin Fries received some great news last week.

Fries said the company that manufactures the cochlear implant has agreed to pay both for the device and also for the surgery and resulting hospitalization, a combined cost of well over $100,000.

“They obviously went above and beyond the call of duty,” Kevin said.

Kevin grew up in North Platte, and his family lived here for a couple years after finishing college. In 2004, they moved to Grand Island where Kevin works as a recruiter for a collection agency and his wife, Dana, is an attorney.

The Fries family has been working diligently to find a remedy for their son’s hearing loss since 2005. That’s when they first noticed that their son, Grayson, was having some difficulty hearing.

At the age of four, Grayson was fitted with hearing aids to support his hearing loss. A year later, doctors determined that Grayson’s hearing had deteriorated to the point that he needed a cochlear implant.

Rather than amplifying sound like a hearing aid, a cochlear implant is a complex electronic device that converts sound into electrical impulses that can be interpreted by the brain.

The device is implanted behind a person’s ear, and electrodes provide a pathway to the cochlea within the inner ear, sending impulses through the auditory nerve and creating an effect similar to hearing.

The implant does not restore a person’s ability to hear, but it does bring it to a level where the patient is able to function and receive auditory clues that allow them to speak and understand verbal communication.

Grayson received his first cochlear implant in December of 2006 at the age of 5. Afterward, Kevin said his son excelled in school for the remainder of his Kindergarten year, and he had a great start as a first grader.

“He was achieving above normal scores for a child with his hearing disability, and we were confident that he would continue to excel,” Kevin added.

However, Grayson received a contusion on the implant site, resulting in swelling below the skin. Eventually, Grayson developed an antibiotic-resistant staph infection (MRSA) and the implant had to be removed.

The idea was to implant a new device once Grayson had fully recovered. Unfortunately, Kevin’s employer had switched to a different insurance company—one that would not cover a cochlear implant.

With the support of his doctors, Kevin appealed twice to Coventry Health Care of Nebraska without success. In his appeal, Kevin pointed out that 90 percent of health insurance plans cover cochlear implant services.

The appeal also indicated that Coventry Health Care does cover other medically necessary prosthetic devices, yet specifically excludes cochlear implants—the only prosthetic device used for treating hearing loss.

“Something needs to be done about that process and how it all works because this is a disability that is no different than if someone lost an arm or a leg,” Kevin said about his struggles with the insurance company.

Kevin even testified earlier this year before a Nebraska legislative committee that was considering a bill to mandate coverage for cochlear implants. Unfortunately, that bill never made it out of committee this year.

After hearing that their second appeal was denied, the Fries family was preparing to continue the fight with the help of the Let Them Hear Foundation, an organization that provides legal advocacy for patients with hearing loss.

“We were exploring all potential options that we had available to us,” Kevin said.

That’s when they got the call from the manufacturer of the cochlear implant. Kevin said they offered to pay for the surgery, which costs about $28,000, as well as the implant, which is another $85,000.

“They were under no obligation to do something like this, yet they felt with Grayson’s history with their equipment and his need and lack of funding for a new implant that they would do this for him,” Kevin said. “It really was an unexpected miracle.”

Sharing Valuable Real Estate

Science News 

By Tina Hesman Saey 

May 13, 2008

 Old brains can learn new tricks but retain their knack for lost senses.

A new study of two people who went blind while young and regained sight as adults shows that blind people’s brains remember how to see even when rewired for sound.

Scientists have known for some time that when a person loses a sense, the brain rewires itself to use parts previously dedicated to the lost sense. In blind people, for instance, vision centers can be remodeled to make sense of sound or turned into touch-processing areas.

But rewired brains don’t erase the old vision-processing software. Instead, sight and sound processors occupy the same space in the brains of people with recovered vision, Melissa Saenz of the California Institute of Technology and her colleagues show in a study published May 14 in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Essentially, blind people’s brains allow hearing circuits to squat on territory normally reserved for vision, Saenz says — and that’s not surprising.

“This is a big part of the brain. It’s valuable real estate,” she says. “What we didn’t know was how these new functions move in.”

In order to find out, Saenz and her colleagues studied two people who regained sight as adults after many years of blindness: Mike May, 54, a businessman from California who lost his sight in a chemical accident when he was 3 years old; and a 53-year-old woman who was blind from a young age as a result of both retinopathy of prematurity and cataract growth. A cornea and stem cell transplant when May was 46 partially restored his vision in one eye. The woman had surgery to partially restore her sight at age 43.

Sighted people use a part of the visual cortex called MT+/V5 to see objects in motion. Other parts of the visual cortex are responsible for recognizing faces or stationary objects. Auditory motion, such as the sounds of a car driving past or footsteps retreating down a hallway, is deciphered by a network of brain areas, including an area adjacent to MT+/V5.

May and the other sight-restored volunteer used MT+/V5 for deciphering both visual and sound motion, but not speech or other types of sights or sounds.

That indicates that MT+/V5 shouldn’t be thought of as exclusively a visual area or an auditory area, says Alvaro Pascual-Leone, a neurologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston who was not involved in the research. “It’s not a visual area per se; it’s a motion area.”

Learning how the brain uses its real estate may improve therapies for restoring vision and hearing, Pascual-Leone says. “Restoring visual input is not enough for seeing,” he says. The brain must also be prepared to handle the information.

May is still amassing an encyclopedia of clues to tell him what he sees. “It wasn’t until I had the operation, took the bandages off and started to see again that I was introduced to the intricacies of vision,” he says.

He can see colors. Motion is no problem. But he’s terrible with recognizing faces and objects.

“Why can I run and catch a ball, but I can’t recognize my wife’s face,” he wonders.

The researchers in the new study didn’t test how well the sight-restored people process motion information. It’s possible that having both senses integrated in a single area could improve motion detection, or it could hinder one or the other, says Franco Lepore, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Montreal.

He has studied similar phenomena in deaf people who have had cochlear implants to help them hear again. Parts of the audio-processing areas of deaf people’s brains get rewired to deal with vision. After hearing is restored, competition in the auditory centers of the brain impair people’s ability to decipher complex images while listening to sound, he says.

Regaining sight means getting another useful piece of information about the world, May says, but he still uses sound and touch to make sense of what he is seeing. And while the study shows that losing and regaining his sight has changed his brain, May says the experiences haven’t revolutionized his life.

“It’s life enriching. It hasn’t changed my life at all,” May says. “It’s like going to another country or meeting a really neat person. These things enrich your life, but they don’t change it in a profound way. Having vision is great, but being blind is great too.”