Benjamin’s Hearing Aid

Yesterday we took Benjamin down to the audiologist in Denver to get his hearing aid. She taught us how to use and care for it, and we practiced putting it in his ear. It was interesting to watch her program the aid for his age and hearing loss—it will be fine-tuned as he becomes more able to give feedback. It’s not a very big device, but on his baby-sized ear, it looks huge! When the audiologist played some tones into his ear, Benjamin’s eyes got very wide and his body got very still like he was concentrating. So we’re fairly sure he’s hearing more already! Now the struggle will be to keep it on. He spent most of yesterday afternoon pulling on it, and we’ll have to try various methods to keep it behind his ear. Right now we’re using double-stick medical tape.

Here are some initial photos. You’ll see more, as he’ll be wearing it all the time except for at night and during long naps. There’s a string to connect it to his clothes so it won’t get lost.

We’re excited about our new bionic baby!