Alysa was born with TCS, and bilateral Microtia-Atresia. Treacher Collins Syndrome is a rare genetic condition that affects the way the face develops; it is estimated that it occurs in approximately 1 in 50,000 live births. Microtia is a birth defect that occurs 1 in 10,000 live births, and Atresia is absence or underdevelopment of the ear canal and middle ear structures. She has had over 9 surgeries, years of orthodontics, and speech therapy in school. She has moderate to severe hearing loss and wears bilateral bone-anchored hearing aids.
Razi M. Zarchy, MS, CCC-SLP and Leah C. Geer, PhD
Our names are Razi Zarchy and Leah Geer. Razi is a hearing speech-language pathologist (SLP) with over 10 years of experience in deaf education. Leah is a deaf Associate Professor of Deaf Studies at California State University, Sacramento. She has 10 years of experience teaching American Sign Language (ASL). Together, we wrote the innovative, family-centered curriculum called ASL at Home. This is our story.
By Michelle Hu, Au.D. CCC-A
“Mommy, I can’t hear.”
No parent ever wants to hear their child cry out in distress. These are words that my mom and dad had to hear more than a few times as I grew up. The very first time, my mom says she sprung out of bed in a panic — she didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t a physician nor was she an audiologist, so she was left to wonder - Was it just a cold? Was it an ear infection? Something worse?
By Marie Morgan, California H&V
I will always remember the day that I drove away from the hospital with my newborn knowing that she just failed the hearing test again and had a high likelihood of a mild to moderate loss. I looked at her, thrilled to be taking a baby home after suffering a loss two years prior. I knew that she would have to deal with this hearing loss her whole life, but I wouldn’t let it define her and I most certainly would make it her super power. That is exactly what I have tried to do every day since.
By Daniela Carvalho, MD, MMM
Most of my patients know me as Dr. C (my sign language name is Dr. with the C by the heart). I am a pediatric otolaryngologist who has been caring for children with hearing loss for the past 20 years. Often when I meet a family in my office, their first question is, “why does my child have hearing loss?” That question can easily lead to an hour-long conversation, as the assessment of the cause of hearing loss will depend on so many factors, including the type, degree, progression, and age of onset. I will try to summarize this here, and to do so, I thought it would be easier to “start from the beginning.”