Archives for August 2011

On August 28, 2011 I share a comparative review on the three BAHA styles that Ally was able to trial.  This comparative review not only discussed the Cochlear BP100/BAHA3, Oticon Medical Ponto Pro, and Sophono Alpha 1 (S) all on a soft band, but I touch on hearing loss and discuss audiograms/hearing evaluations and the speech banana.  Over the course of the next couple of months, I receive e-mails from audiologists, staff from schools for the deaf and blind, and therapists from early intervention services and human services asking if they can pass along my comparative review.  Some professionals asked me if they could have my permission to print the review in newsletters.  Dr. Sheryl Lewin even asked if she could translate it into Spanish for Spanish speaking families.

During the weekend of August 27th, 2011, Oticon invited my family to attend their 1st Patient Advocacy Conference in Chicago, Illinois.  During this conference, my family and I learned more about the Ponto series sound processors and bone conduction technology.  We were also given the opportunity to meet with 10 other families who all wear sound processors due to experiencing mixed hearing loss, sensorinerual hearing loss, or conductive hearing loss.  The impact of everyone’s stories was very emotional and rewarding at the same time.  We learned how each one of us is affected by a hearing loss.  One very special highlight for my family personally was to have met Justin who also has Microtia and Atresia and he had never met anyone before with M/A.  It was so nice to have him hold our Ally and to meet her so he could realize he is not alone with M/A.  Thank you Oticon Medical for thinking of my family and for embracing the Microtia and Atresia Support Group.  Thank you for inviting us to be a part of your 1st Patient Advocacy Conference in 2011.

Below are some photos from the conference:

In August of 2011, I receive a handful of e-mails from Denver Public Health and TriCounty Health Departments asking me if they can pass along my group’s information to families with Microtia and Atresia and to have their staff/personnel note our support group as a helpful resource for the deaf and hard of hearing.  I receive an e-mail from the Parent 2 Parent organization asking to add our support group to the national list serve list (where there are contacts for autism, cancer, diabetes, etc…).