Amari the infant was born deaf. He can now hear and speak.

 

Ten years ago, Catherine Wanjiku Wachira welcomed a healthy newborn boy into the world named Amari Karongo who weighed 3.9 kilograms. The family resided on the upper levels of a building that was still under construction in Utawala, Nairobi. Even though a concrete mixer was always running during the day, Amari would sleep soundly.

"I assumed my baby was a deep sleeper because my housekeeper would tell me when I arrived home from work that he had been sleeping the entire afternoon without being disturbed by the concrete mixer on the upper floor of our home," explains Catherine.When Catherine was among friends, she would hear tales of how youngsters Amari's age would react when their parents opened doors after coming from.

"I used to hear tales of other mothers claiming that their children would begin to weep as soon as they arrived home from work. But my son never mentioned that to me. Even when I knocked on the door, he didn't weep. And although I didn't give it much attention at the time, looking back, that indicated something wasn't right.

Amari's mother gave him a rattle when he was nine months old because she thought it would delight him, but to her astonishment, he only held it, glanced at it, and threw it away.

"Given the sounds, I anticipated him to get excited and shake it. That was the proof that there was a problem, says Catherine. She brought her child to a pediatrician and explained to the physician

A baby's hearing test just takes a few minutes, according to Dr. Shailendra Inamdar, a consultant ENT (ear, nose, and throat) surgeon at MP Shah Hospital. "Why would I believe that my child is deaf? I had not yet considered the possibility that someone could be born deaf. I had thought that being deaf meant being elderly," she explains.

Catherine was referred to a neurologist because she claimed her son had autism. The neurologist ran some tests but came up empty-handed. The child should subsequently visit an audiologist for a hearing evaluation, the neurologist said.

"Gentle clicking sounds are played in the baby's ear through a little, soft-tipped earpiece. Sometimes it's not possible to receive clear answers on the first test. Numerous infants experience this, and it does not always indicate that the child will always have hearing loss, according to the expert.

At that point, Amari's severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss was determined.

When a person's hearing ability is diminished and they are unable to hear as well as someone with normal hearing, this is referred to as hearing loss.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines normal hearing as having hearing thresholds in both ears of 20 dB or higher. The decibel (dB) is a measurement unit representing the ratio of two physical quantities, often

Before testing the hearing aids in the child's ear, an audiologist programs them to match the child's deafness in order to ensure that the signal (or frequency response) matches as nearly as feasible.

The difference between a cochlear implant and a hearing aid is further clarified by Dr. Inamdar.

Catherine was shocked to learn that Amari was deaf, so she sought out second and third views from other experts. Specialists advised hearing aids when Amari's hearing loss was confirmed.

A microphone, amplifier, and receiver are the three main components of a hearing aid, claims Dr. Inamdar. The wearer's surroundings are picked up by the microphone, which transforms them into electrical impulses before being analyzed and amplified. Back to sound, the electrical signals are transformed.

"I could not fathom spending millions of shillings on the intervention I needed for my baby. I first started to realize the structural injustice of disability after that, she says.

With a price in mind, Catherine went back to her family to start a campaign; by the time the fundraiser was over, Amari had turned four. While delays harm language development, communication, social well-being, and cognition, she later learned that early intervention is essential for optimal rehabilitation results in people with hearing loss.

"We raised a respectable sum, but it was insufficient. I returned to Google and discovered the Alexander Graham Bell foundation's website, where under the heading of financial aid they have a long list of organizations that support children and others who are deaf, she continues.

If her kid met the requirements, Catherine would click through each link, read the eligibility requirements, and send an email. She eventually discovered a charity that assisted her son in this way.

"They simply requested that we pay for travel and lodging; they would pay for the cochlear implant. Nevertheless, because we had gathered funds, we were prepared to do so. After arriving in Texas, we obtained the gadget, had therapy there for a few months, and then returned.

A crucial mitigating factor is the age at which intervention (amplification or enrolment in educational programs) is initiated. Several studies have demonstrated that children with hearing loss who receive early intervention and identification perform better than those who receive treatment and discovery later in life.

According to the WHO, delays have a negative influence on language development, communication, social well-being, and cognition, hence early intervention is crucial for people with hearing loss to get the best rehabilitative outcomes.

Children and adults can occasionally go unrecognized due to hearing loss, which is invisible. Extreme measures must be made, according to the FDA, to screen for hearing loss at different stages of life.