Latest Stories on Cochlear Implants - January 1st, 2009 (!)

Injured Iraqi boy arrives in Bay Area for surgery
Marin Independent-Journal - San Rafael,CA,USA
The Iraq Action Group, the Ruth Group and numerous volunteers were able to
secure for free a $75000 cochlear implant device, the skills of surgeon Dr.
Larry ...


Injured 3-Yr Old Iraqi Boy Arrives For Treatment
CBS 5 - San Francisco,CA,USA
Dr. Lawrence Lustig, director of the UCSF Douglas Gran Cochlear Implant
Center, will perform the operation pro bono, according to Lowenthal. ...


Iraqi boy to have surgery in SF
abc7news.com - San Francisco,CA,USA
He will be staying at Ronald McDonald House while he goes through a
cochlear implant at UCSF. Doctor Lawrence Lustig is waiving his fee. ...


Ear op opens up world of sound for Leeds youngster
Yorkshire Evening Post - Leeds,England,UK
By Katie Baldwin The lively five-year-old was born profoundly deaf and did
not speak until a cochlear implant gave her hearing in one ear. ...

Hearing Impaired Children Learn To Enjoy Music

WCSH6 TV
Portland, Oregon
March 2008

Hearing Impaired Children Learn To Enjoy Music

"Modern technology, including hearing aids and cochlear implants, allow the kids to hear the music. And they were responding to it on Wednesday, swaying and using hand signals to represent the animals the instruments were depicting musically in the story."

Child with Cochlear Implant Stars in Childrens' Book, Wins Literary Award

Ok, so it's a baseball yarn, but still...

"RALLY CAPS is a humorous, fun-filled baseball camp story. Ten-year old Jordan is injured in a frightening baseball accident. Recovery is difficult. At summer camp, he forms a friendship with a deaf Italian boy, Luca, who wears a cochlear implant. Luca’s compelling “Nothing is Impossible” attitude, along with the inspiration from his idol, Cal Ripken Jr., gives Jordan the courage to return to baseball with a passion."

http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=61752

Jamaican School for the Deaf Celebrates 50 Years

Jamaica
Jamaica Gleaner
February 2008

Imagine Jamaica 50 years ago.
Imagine being deaf in Jamaica in the 1950's.
Beautiful story of how two determined Canadian missionaries launched a school for the deaf in 1957 Jamaica.

Top Israeli TV Channel Reports Extensively on Hearing-impaired Basketball Team

"Playing in Silence"Israel
February 2008

The top Israeli TV channel, "Channel 2," ran a 9-minute story tonight on a recently formed basketball team that embraces hearing-impaired players. This is a key turning point for the rarely covered hearing-impaired population. Reporting - and my kudos and response on the channel's site - are of course in Hebrew. Includes video.

British Trust to the Rescue of Hard of Hearing Kids in South Africa

TRUST PROVIDING CRUCIAL HELP FOR DEAF CHILDREN

Bath, UK
The Bath Chronicle
January 2008

A British trust has been helping restore hearing to children in South Africa, donating as many as 2,000 instruments to South African children. The UK-based Signal Trust collects donations of hearing aids and repairs them prior to shipping them south, where audiologists identify needy children and fit them with the instruments. Most children fitted do not have the benefit of verbal communication.

Tiny Tot on Short List for Cochlear Implant

London, England
Gazette & Herald
December 2007

Tiny Tot Defeats All Odds

"The profoundly deaf 16-month-old was born weighing just 4lbs with severely underdeveloped lungs after her mum Kate caught a virus during pregnancy."

Telephone Helps Hearing Impaired

Bismarck, North Dakota (US)
KFYR TV
December 2007

Telephone Helps Hearing Impaired

"Nicole is trying out a telephone that works with her cochlear implant to amplify sound."

Funding of Bilateral Implants Becoming More Common

Nova Scotia, Canada
The Nova Scotia Chronicle Herald
December 2007

Elmsdale toddler to get second cochlear implant

"A 17-month-old Elmsdale girl will receive a second cochlear implant in January now that the province has scrapped its policy of only paying for one of the hearing devices."

Poetry at Clark School for the Deaf

Northampton, Mass. (US)
The Republican
December 2007

Love Shines in at Poetry Cafe

Hard of hearing children with hearing aids and cochlear implants write and read poetry at a Massachusetts middle school.

"When I got the cochlear implant, I worked hard to get the speech I have now," says Emily J. Hewlings, 14. "Pronouncing words was the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

Emily's linguistic skills have developed to the point where she doesn't just write poetry, she READS it!

Mom Sells Pies to Buy Son Phonak Hearing Aids

Roanoke, Virginia (US)
The Roanoke Times
December 2007

Sweet offerings from a loving mom's kitchen
"To raise money for her son's hearing aids, and to give herself time to process her son's medical issues, Vera Wilson started baking pies."