Meet nine-year-old Paula from Denver, Colorado! Paula was born with Microtia and Aural Atresia, leaving her with conductive hearing loss in her right ear. Originally from Mexico, Paula’s family moved to the United States in 2018. Now that Paula is nine, her parents noticed she seemed to be struggling more with her hearing loss. With Paula being in elementary school, her family didn’t want her to struggle in the school classroom. Paula’s most recent audiometric evaluation indicated a profound rising to a moderately severe conductive hearing loss in her right ear. With this information, Paula’s audiologist, Dr. Vanessa Olivares, shared with the Paula and her family that a bone conduction hearing device could help her hear better. Paula’s mother, Sehila Mendias Ponce de Leon was relieved that there was a hearing device available to help her daughter hear. Unfortunately, the insurance provider for the family does not cover “hearing aids” and denied coverage for a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid for Paula.
Now realizing that Paula needed a hearing device, her family was concerned about the cost of a hearing device without insurance coverage. Thankfully, Paula’s audiology team at the Denver Health Audiology Clinic were able to find some helpful resources that could help Paula obtain a hearing device. Dr. Olivares reached out to the Ear Community Organization by helping Paula’s mom apply for a hearing device. Ear Community was happy to respond that the organization would help Paula obtain a hearing device! Thanks to the help of one of Ear Community’s collaborative partners, Cochlear Americas, Paula was able to receive the gift of hearing so she could feel comfortable being herself and enjoy hearing life’s everyday sounds like her peers, family and friends!
On Friday, February 11th, just in time for St. Valentine’s Day, Paula was fitted with a newly donated Baha 6! Since being fitted with her new Baha 6, Paula is able to experience better quality of sound. She also enjoys using the smart app where she can stream music and movies and also control the volume with her microphone at school.
A special thank you to Dr. Vanessa Olivares for donating her time and services to help fit and program Paula’s new Baha 6! Thank you to Keesha Pfeiffer of Cochlear Americas for helping donate Paula’s Baha 6 to our Ear Community Organization so we could help another child in need like Paula! Ear Community is so proud to collaborate with Cochlear Americas when coming together to help individuals who are in need within the Microtia and Atresia community. “Cochlear is the global leader in implantable hearing solutions. It has a dedicated global team of more than 2,500 people who deliver the gift of sound to those with hearing loss in over 100 countries. Its vision is to connect people, young and old, to a world of sound by offering life enhancing hearing solutions. In 2013, Cochlear celebrated 100,000 Baha System users – all with unique stories of how being able to hear again has impacted their lives. The Cochlear promise of “Hear Now. And Always” embodies the company’s commitment to providing its recipients with the best possible hearing performance today and for the rest of their lives.
Everyone at Ear Community is happy excited for Paula to hear her best in the school classroom, at home and out with friends! Congratulations on being able to hear so much better now!
Ear Community
www.EarCommunity.org
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- Paula Mendias, Cochlear Americas Baha 6 recipient, February 11th, 2022, Denver, Colorado.
