Happy 6th Hearing Birthday

Nolan's sixth hearing birthday was yesterday. I would have posted a blog then.. but, truth be told, I completely forgot. I didn't remember until the audiologist called to confirm his appointment on the 14th, when I suddenly realized - hey, it is January 10th! Yesterday was the anniversary of when he first heard sound!

He has grown a lot since those first moments with his hearing aids. I'll never forget the day before he received his first hearing aids. It was a sunny day in January, and I was so anxious about the future. How would we communicate? Would he lose more hearing? Was anything else wrong with our precious baby? Would he talk? What would his life be like?

The next day, his ears were born. He could hear something without hearing aids at this point in his life. He had a moderate hearing loss, but all speech sounded like Charlie Brown's teachers. Hearing aids would bring those blurry sounds into focus - allowing him to hear all the sounds of speech.


My bobble-headed baby boy loved sound, and was a mere four months of age when we turned on his ears. Over time, answers came to my questions.

Would he lose more hearing? Yes. Nolan now has a moderately severe to severe hearing loss. He is likely to continue to lose hearing (albeit slowly). With technology, however, this isn't as much of a worry - he will always have access to sound, even if we have to change the technology down the road.

As for how we would communicate - well, we often have to tell Nolan to take a five minute break from talking. He is the most verbal person in our family. His receptive and expressive language is off the charts. He talks. He sings. He plays the piano. And sometimes the pipe organ.



He is one of the top readers in his class. I used to worry that he would need help with his reading - as it turns out, he is pulled out for a special reading group. This reading group, however, is for the advanced readers in the first grade.

Was anything else wrong with him? That question unfolded over the years. For several terrifying years, we agonized over what was going on with our little boy. The inability to grow, breathing difficulties, constant ear and sinus infections, amblyopia... every new symptom caused a wave of panic. Now that we have some answers, we are able to help him and avoid the vomiting attacks and other problems that come with dysautonomia (one of the unfortunate conditions that often comes along with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome). He is growing. His vision is now correcting to 20/30, and we have stopped the sinus and ear infections. Some things aren't "fixable," but he is stable and we know how to help him. I finally feel like we have a handle on things.

And as for what his life would be like.. well, it is simply regular. He goes to a regular first grade class. He plays on a soccer team in the summer. He is a bit of a daredevil and rides roller coasters that I will never, ever dare to ride. He calls himself the "green bullet" when he darts down the ski hill. He is a confident, articulate, rambunctious six year old boy.

Life is good.