"If we were affected again, we would do it again!"

My name is Lisa, I live with my family in Bregenz and I have two implanted children. Rosa, our youngest, is implanted on one side and wears a hearing aid on the other side. My son Valentin has CIs on both sides. We were diagnosed with hearing loss immediately after he was born. At first, we tried hearing aids and early intervention. After about two months, we were able to detect responses to the auditory impressions in the right ear, but not in the left. So we decided to have Valentin implanted at the age of eight and a half months. We noticed a reaction right from the first fitting. He then started to speak at the age of one. When he was almost 6 years old, he also received a cochlear implant on the other side.

Thanks to the early implantation, Valentin's hearing development was completely normal and his speech development was even above average. He can also lip-read, so we have no problems if he doesn't wear the devices when swimming. He is learning to play the flute at school and is totally enthusiastic about it.

I think it is very important to communicate openly with the child. This means that they should know that they are normal and different at the same time. Asking questions is always okay!

It is also useful to learn simple gestures to facilitate communication in situations without the devices (swimming, bathtub, at night).