Matthew’s hearing isn’t something we’ve been greatly concerned about. We know several people who have degraded hearing in at least one ear, and they are all successful adults. But, we have prayed that Matthew’s hearing either gets better or remains the same because degraded hearing does create challenges, especially in the school atmosphere. If you have a hard time focusing when there is background noise, which is often the case when you have hearing loss in one ear, learning in a classroom (especially an open concept classroom) can be a challenge.
At 8 days old, Matthew was diagnosed with moderate to severe hearing loss in his left ear, his right was ‘normal’. At 3 months, Matthew’s hearing had improved in his left ear to mild to moderate hearing loss, still ‘normal’ in the right. Matthew had his 3rd ABR (diagnostic hearing test) yesterday. So at 5.5 months old, Matthew’s hearing has improved again. In a surprise to his audiologist and us, Matthew now has “normal hearing sensitivity” in both ears. The Dr indicated she’s only seen this kind of improvement in severe preemies, never in a full term infant. Again, Matthew is in a class of his own!
This is very good news!! Matthew will have an ample number of challenges throughout his development but thankfully at this time, it doesn’t look like his hearing will be one of them! Thanks be to God!!
I am celebrating Matthew's normal hearing sensitiity in both ears with you. WooHoo way to go Matthew! and teeth! Wow he is really growing up fast. My love to you all, Janey
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