Deaf 8-month-old boy to receive the gift of sound for the new year

January 2, 2004 — Deaf 8-month-old boy to receive the gift of sound for the new year: Youngest in Illinois to receive cochlear implant

Kevin Robert Johnston of Chesterton, IN, born deaf, is about to begin life in the mainstream world of sound. Turning 8 months old as he enters the new year, Kevin is the youngest person in Illinois and one of the youngest in the country to receive a cochlear implant, a device that will help him hear and learn to speak. He is also the youngest of three hearing impaired children in his family.

Kevin was identified at birth with hearing loss through Indiana's Universal Newborn hearing screen and was subsequently fitted with hearing aids at 5 weeks of age. He received some benefit and had access to some sound, but not enough to hear all the sounds of speech.

On January 5, Kevin's Cochlear Nucleus® 24 Contour™ cochlear implant will be activated at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, and he will begin to hear and respond to the sounds around him using this device. Kevin was surgically implanted on December 15 at Children's Memorial Hospital by Nancy Young, MD. Dr. Young founded the Children's Memorial's Cochlear Implant Program, the largest of its kind in a pediatric hospital nationwide.

Cochlear implants bypass damaged hair cells in the inner ear, providing useful hearing and improved communication to those who receive little or no benefit from hearing aids. The Cochlear Nucleus 24 Contour cochlear implant is approved for use in severe to profoundly deaf infants as young as 12 months of age and in adults with severe to profound hearing loss in both ears. The Cochlear Nucleus 3 system is the latest development in cochlear implant technology.

"Early implantation is important because research has shown that it allows auditory and verbal development at rates comparable to the child's hearing peers," said Dr. Young.

Kevin is the third child with hearing loss born to Cindy and Anthony Johnston. Kevin's 7-year-old sister, Claire, has mild to moderate hearing loss and wears hearing aids, and his four-year-old sister, Colleen, has been utilizing her Cochlear Nucleus 24 Contour cochlear implant for the past 21 months.

"Until our children were diagnosed with hearing impairment, we didn't know a thing about hearing loss, hearing aids or cochlear implants," said Anthony. "Now we are grateful for the advanced cochlear implant technology that is helping our children communicate with the mainstream world."

"With proper aural habilitation to learn how to use the implant, we expect Kevin to function quite well with minimal difficulties in our hearing world," said Cindy. "He will be able to get an education in mainstream schools, and go on to lead a normal, productive life. Kevin's cochlear implant will broaden his opportunities and lessen his limitations. We saw the benefits our daughter received from a cochlear implant, and know that Kevin will have an even greater opportunity for success, being implanted at such an early age."

At Kevin's activation on January 5, he may hear and respond to his first real sounds, which may be his parents expressing their joy at observing their son enter the hearing world, and saying, "We love you."

Contact Information Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, is recognized as one of the top pediatric hospitals in the country and number one in Illinois according to U.S. News & World Report. Its physicians are on the faculty at the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. For more information about Cochlear's products, call the Cochlear Nucleus Hotline at 800/458-4999 (Voice) or 800/483-3123 (TTY) or visit the website at www.cochlear.com.

Interested members of the media may contact Kathleen Keenan at 773.880.4500 or 773.880.6857.