Annika Silang-Ferrer, born with Microtia and Atresia of her right ear, age 4.5, wearing her new Oticon Medical Ponto Plus

Meet Annika Silang-Ferrer from the Philippines. Little Annika is 4.5 years old and was born with grade III Microtia and Atresia of her right ear. Annika is a beautiful girl who is very happy and has one of the brightest smiles you will ever see. Annika looks forward to everyday and carries on playing with her older brother Alec, who thinks the world of his little sister.

When Annika was born, Annika’s parents, Alex and Grace, were surprised that she was missing her right ear. From the moment Alex and Grace left the hospital with Annika, following her birth, they both agreed that they “would mold Annika into a person with good values, with self-confidence, and full of love.” Alex and Grace focused on making sure that Annika would have everything she would need in life. They advocated for her and made sure that she had all of the right hearing tests conducted. Annika’s audiology results determined that she had a moderate to severe hearing loss (65dB) in her right ear and she was immediately scheduled for a BAHA fitting, but after learning that no further hearing tests were required at her age at the time, they stopped seeing her audiologists, especially since they could not afford the recommended BAHA that was suggested (in 2011). Annika’s parents were struggling financially and were encouraged to apply for medical assistance in the Philippines, but they were not able to qualify because they had an income, even though this income just barely covered their rent and expenses….they were considered over qualified.

Over the years, Annika’s parents learned to accept that they had to just let Annika grow up without a BAHA. As parents, they knew that they would do anything to help provide for Annika and it broke their hearts that they were unable to do something about getting her a BAHA that she needed, but they just did not know what to do….until they came across Ear Community. Not only did Annika’s family find support through Ear Community, but they also learned about the application process for obtaining a BAHA and so they applied. With Annika beginning school this coming June, they worried how she would get along because of her hearing loss. Alex and Grace focused on saving money for their children’s schooling and just didn’t have anymore funds available for a BAHA for Annika.

On April 16^th, 2015, Annika was fitted with a new Ponto Plus processor w/streamer from Oticon Medical. The sounds that Annika heard while being fitted with her new BAHA made her smile even brighter than ever! “It was a whole new experience for her,” said her mother Grace. Many medical professionals and organizations came together to help make Annika’s special hearing day possible. Ear Community would like to thank Izovelle (Icee) Pieda of Oticon Medical for traveling across the Philippines to help with Annika’s fitting and for helping program her new Ponto Plus. Dr. Leah Tantoco, one of Annika’s audiologists, also helped with Annika’s fitting on her special day. A very special thank you to Tine Schou, Vice President of Marketing for Oticon Medical Denmark, who helped put Ear Community and Dr. Leah Tantoco in touch with Izovelle Pieda (of Oticon Medical) for the fitting. A very special thank you to Alan Raffauf, Vice President of Marketing for Oticon Medical US, for choosing to donate a new Oticon Medical Ponto Plus w/streamer to Ear Community so that it could be donated to little Annika to help her hear better and so that she could thrive in school this upcoming June. Thank you for everyone’s support and for helping Ear Community continue with its mission of helping individuals with Microtia and Atresia. Oticon Medical believes in helping individuals with hearing loss so that they can live a better quality of life. Oticon Medical is a well respected international hearing device manufacturer that is a part of the “William Demant Group [which has] 100-plus years of experience in audiology and sound processing and established manufacturing and logistics infrastructure.”

“Annika, we wish you the very best with your new Ponto Plus and we know that you will do great in school with your classmates,” stated Melissa Tumblin, Founder and Executive Director of Ear Community.

www.EarCommunity.org

The Cochlear™ Baha® 5 Sound Processor allows users to stream sound directly from iPhone®, iPad® or iPod touch®

Here is the direct link to the Cochlear Americas press release with VIDEOs of the product: http://www.multivu.com/players/English/7052252-cochlear-baha-5-sound-processor/

PR Newswire– Centennial, Colo., (April 7, 2015)
Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH), the global leader in implantable hearing solutions, announced today the commercial availability of the Cochlear™ Baha® 5 Sound Processor. For people who are deaf in one ear, or have conductive or mixed hearing loss, the Baha 5 Sound Processor is not only the smallest bone conduction sound processor in the industry, it is full of advanced hearing technologies designed to help users hear better than ever before.

“We are always looking for new ways to improve the quality of life of those who use our technology to hear every day,” said Chris Smith, President of Cochlear Americas. “When developing the Baha 5 Sound Processor, we conducted extensive research to determine what was most important to our customers and two words consistently rose to the top of that list – size and simplicity. So, that’s what we did. We created the industry’s smallest and smartest bone conduction sound processor with the goal of providing an improved and simplified listening experience through direct-to-device streaming from iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, and automatic signal processing with our proprietary SmartSound® iQ technology.”

Made for iPhone® Now Available in Hearing Implants.  Despite advances in technology, people with hearing loss still have difficulty using the phone and depend on intermediary devices to connect their phone to their hearing device in order to hear better. For more than a year, Cochlear has provided a full range of wireless accessories that stream sound directly to the sound processor with the goal of helping Baha System users experience the true wireless freedom they have always wanted. Now, Cochlear takes it one step further by introducing the first hearing implant system that lets people stream sound, and even control their sound processor, directly from iPhone, iPad® or iPod touch®.

With this new technology, people with a Baha 5 System can enjoy music, games, movies, apps – even make a FaceTime® call to family on the other side of the world – with sound streamed straight to their sound processor. It’s easy to set up and easy to use, so people can stay connected to the devices and people they love.

A Personalized Hearing Experience with New Smart App
To further enhance the overall hearing experience only possible with Made for iPhone, Cochlear has released a new Baha 5 Smart App compatible with the Baha 5 Sound Processor for extra simplicity. With the Baha 5 Smart App, users can personalize their listening experience by adjusting and customizing the sound processor directly from iPhone. They can save programs to specific locations, adjust volume, treble and bass and even track down a misplaced sound processor – all discreetly done without having to draw attention to their sound processor.

Listening Made Easy in a Small, Discreet Package
The Baha 5 Sound Processor is designed to help users enjoy clearer, crisper sound even in noisy environments. The key to this new sound experience is the innovative SmartSound® iQ technology, which is a signal processing platform that automatically adapts to different sound environments to deliver a more comfortable listening experience and the opportunity for the best possible hearing performance in noisy situations.

All of this is packaged inside the smallest bone conduction sound processor in the industry.

The Baha 5 Sound Processor is also an award winner. It recently received the prestigious, internationally recognized Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015, which is only given to outstandingly creative, innovative and high quality products. It is a great honor for Cochlear to be presented with this award.

To learn if you may be a candidate for the Baha System, visit http://www.Cochlear.com/US/BahaSystem.

To find out more about the features of the Baha 5 Sound Processor, visit http://www.Cochlear.com/US/Baha.

About Cochlear Limited (ASX: COH)
Cochlear is the global leader in implantable hearing solutions. The company has a global workforce of 2,700 people and invests more than AUS$100 million a year in research and development. Products include hearing systems for cochlear, bone conduction and acoustic implants.

Over 350,000 people of all ages, across more than 100 countries, now hear because of Cochlear.

www.cochlear.com

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The Cochlear Baha 5 Sound Processor is compatible with iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 5, iPad Air 2, iPad Air, iPad (4th generation), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 2, iPad mini and iPod touch (5th generation) using iOS 7.* or later.

Apple, the Apple logo, FaceTime, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

©Cochlear Limited 2015. All rights reserved. Hear now. And always and other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of Cochlear Limited or Cochlear Bone Anchored Solutions AB. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Media Contact
Kerri Lewandowski
Cochlear Americas
(512) 354-7164
KLewandowski@Cochlear.com