"The exchange with other affected parents was so important to me!"

My name is Sabine, I live in Leobendorf and my son Tobias is fitted with cochlear implants on both sides. He was implanted at 22 months after we noticed around his first birthday that he didn't seem to be hearing well. We went to the pediatrician and ENT, but only the third doctor we went to really listened to us and we were referred to the hospital. The diagnosis of deafness was a big shock for us. However, the team of doctors carefully explained everything to us. We were also given a very helpful contact from an affected mother who gave us an insight. After the implantation, we used early intervention and signing support. At this time, when Tobias was just learning to hear, a lot of patience and communication was required. Before he started school, we gathered a lot of information: MED-EL, early intervention, other parents, the Ministry of Education - we wanted to give our son a smooth start at school.

Tobias is fun-loving, curious, loves swimming, has lots of friends, he makes our lives more colorful! I can therefore recommend to all affected parents to never give up and to accompany their children on their hearing journey with lots of love and patience. You are not alone, there are many other like-minded people.