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DSC03809Meet the Rechdan family from Orlando, Florida. Recently, 11 year old bilateral Nucleus Cochlear Implant recipient Gabriel received the Aqua+. The family shared with us their experience with this technology.

Brenda, Mother – As a parent with no hearing loss history in your family, you never expect to hear the words “your child is deaf”. It was at the hospital on the day we were celebrating the birth of our son that my husband and I initially found out our son Gabriel failed his newborn hearing screening test. We were shocked to say the least. Even when we took him for his ABR and they confirmed the hospital findings, I still was in disbelief. Once Gabriel received his cochlear implants, he started flourishing. We started talking, interacting, attending mainstream school with his sisters…just enjoying life as a kid.

DSC04052Gabriel, Bilateral Nucleus Cochlear Implant Recipient – My favorite subject in school is math. I also like to play soccer. I can hear the coach telling me instructions like “Throw the ball” or “Try kicking and going in”. We live in Orlando, so we do a lot of swimming. I like to swim with my sisters. When I was growing up, I wanted a waterproof sound processor…and now I have one with the Aqua+. When I play in the pool with my sisters and my friends, we play swimming games. We throw the ball at each other and play volleyball. We just play in the pool, play outside and hang out together. When I wear the Aqua+, I can hear bubbles coming up when I breathe or blow air underwater. Before, I couldn’t hear anything. It just sounds like underwater, but I never knew what that sounded like before. It’s so much better now that I get to use my Aqua+ and hear in the water.

Kaitlyn, Sister – I am 13 years old and I’m Gabriel’s sister. He’s really social, has lots of friends and goes to school with us. Before Gabriel had the Aqua+, of course he was deaf in the water. He couldn’t hear, so for our version of Marco Polo, we’d kind of splash Gabriel just to let him know where we were. It worked well, but definitely it’s much better to play the version where we all talk to each other. Gabriel enjoys being in the water and the pool with everyone better now that he can hear.

Brenda, Mother – When we received the Aqua+, Gabriel got in the water with his friends and was just grinning from ear to ear. I posted it on Facebook because I had to. He played Marco Polo in the pool, and he was diving and coming up like a new person. He was just so happy. We have a great support system right now. Any questions we have whether its Aqua Plus or “My kids are swimming and should I do this, should I do that?” the support is there. Gabriel is capable of doing anything and everything, and he knows that. Every time I hear Gabriel talking, I still feel excited. We are just so happy.

Watch as the Rechdan family and others share their experiences with the Aqua+!


Rechdan Video

 

 

 

 

 

Learn more about the Cochlear™ Nucleus® Aqua+!

Cochlear Guest Writer
Cochlear Americas showcases the stories of real people celebrating life's real moments. This blog was written by a guest writer for Cochlear Americas.