Maryland boy receives access to sound thanks to Oticon Medical and Ear Community

Allan De Leon of Maryland, 2 years old born with Microtia and Atresia and CFM, received a donated Ponto 4 from Oticon Medical

Meet Allan De Leon who is 2 years old and was born with Microtia and Atresia of his right ear, including Craniofacial Microsomia. Allan and his family live in Maryland after recently relocating from Guatemala. Allan’s family was unable to provide a permanent bone conduction hearing device of any kind for him due to financial restrictions, and no access to insurance coverage. Because Jovina and Alan (Allan’s parents) are from Guatemala, their first spoken language is Spanish. Shortly after Allan was born, not only were they learning to acclimate to a new country with a new language, they also had to learn to navigate how to help their son get the medical help he needed in addition to addressing his hearing loss.

Luckily, Allan was able to become a patient at John’s Hopkins where he has been able to receive the help he needs from an entire medical team. One of Allan’s doctors is Allison McGrath, AuD. who knew about helpful resources like Ear Community and was hopeful that our organization was able to help Allan obtain a hearing device to help him hear. Dr. McGrath helped the family apply to Ear Community for an Oticon Medical Ponto 4 that would give him access to sound so he could not only hear his best while his speech and language skills were coming in, but to be given the opportunity to be bilingual at such an early age. His hearing is key as he grows and develops and starts attending school, making friends, and doing all of the other fun things that kids do!

Dr. McGrath made it a special point to tell us how hard Allan’s parents have worked hard to get him everything he needs. She said, “I will say Allan’s family is extremely motivated to provide Allan with whatever he needs to succeed. They make every appointment despite challenges such as language barriers, limitations related to COVID, etc. Allan was borrowing an older loaner device, and his family and team worked with him to get him to wear that, so I have no doubts that his new, updated Oticon Medical Ponto 4 will be a great change and make a world of a difference for Allan and his development.”

When Ear Community’s Board of Directors received the family’s application and were informed of Allan’s challenges, the board knew how important it was that they help him have better access to hearing. On January 26th, 2021, Allan received a new Oticon Medical Ponto 4 on a soft headband through Ear Community. Allan’s parents were grateful to find out that our Ear Community Organization could help him hear better with a new Oticon Medical Ponto 4 – talk about a great way to start the new year! Thank you to Dr. McGrath at John’s Hopkins for helping advocate for Allan’s family with his hearing loss and for helping the family discover the Ear Community Organization. A special thank you to Dr. McGrath for donating her time and services to program and fit Allan with his new Oticon Medical Ponto 4.

A very special thank you to Alan Raffauf, Vice President of Marketing and Operations of Oticon Medical US, and to Beverly Ostrowski, Director of Customer Service for Oticon Medical US, for donating a Ponto 4 to the Ear Community Organization so Allan could receive the gift of hearing and thrive. 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. Ear Community would also like to thank our donors and members of the community who want to help our organization continue our work – none of this would be possible without your support! We are so happy to have been a part of helping Allan hear better!

“It is always a miracle to see the smile on a family’s face when they realize their child is now hearing their best thanks to being given the opportunity to be aided with a bone conduction hearing device” says Melissa Tumblin, Ear Community Founder. “Ear Community strives to help the individuals and their families within the Microtia and Atresia community in many ways, providing information and help so their loved ones can thrive and live the happiest lives,” says Melissa Tumblin. “We look forward to watching Allan grow and thrive each day!”

Thank you,
The Ear Community Organization
www.EarCommunity.org