Hearing Aid Action

I remember 40 years ago to this day, when I was a child, how my parents, who are deaf, learned from my kindergarten teacher that I was not hearing her when she called me in class.  Hearing tests were performed and I was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss.  Although I would have benefited far better with bilateral hearing aids, I was fitted with one hearing aid.  It was all my parents could afford.

My parents later learned that my two younger sisters also needed hearing aids.   Dad’s insurance had no coverage for hearing aids.  No assistance was available.  It put a strain on my parents’ finances, their marriage, and our quality of life.  It was very difficult times and I’ll never forget the hardship it caused us for many years where at times our hearing aids needed to be replaced.

Today, I am married to a very supportive hearing husband. We have three great kids. One daughter age 10, who is deaf, another daughter age 7 and a son age 5 who are hearing impaired.  

My children and I all wear bilateral hearing aids.  Eight hearing aids!!

In 1998, we discovered our oldest daughter, 15 months old, had severe/profound hearing loss.  .  She needed two hearing aids.  No financial assistance was available.  Our insurance had no coverage for hearing aids.  We paid for them with our savings. 

A few years ago we all went for a routine hearing exam.  We were informed that my two younger children age 5 & age 3 at the time also had hearing loss.  We needed two more sets of new hearing aids. We didn’t know how we were going to come up with that kind of money, but we knew we had to.   Our only two options were either to exhaust years of savings or borrow money.

I thought to myself, is our life going to be that of my parents.

Without hearing aids my children and I would not have a quality life socially, academically, and professionally.

I am a career mom.  I need hearing aids to help me listen & communicate at work everyday with others.  I honestly know I would not have succeeded in my place of employment without them.

My oldest daughter, who is profoundly deaf and wears bilateral hearing aids, has attended deaf and hard of hearing programs since she was 3 years old.  Today at age 10, she attends 4^th grade hearing classes in our home school district. She is an A student.   She came home one day and signed. ‘Mom, today my teacher told the whole class that I was the only one that received 100% on our math test on fractions & algebra.’  That’s incredible.  I was so proud of her.

My other two younger children struggle without their hearing aids.  There have been instances where they did not wear their aids to school because they were being repaired or they just simply forgot to put them on.  They were very frustrated because they could not hear what the teachers were saying or when their friends were socializing with them.  Imagine not having them at all.

I have friends and relatives both adult & children who would benefit tremendously with hearing aids and do not them. They simply cannot afford them.  They have insurance with no hearing aid coverage.   Everyday they missed information that pertinent to their  lives when they do not hear.  That is very sad.

It is outrageous the high premiums we pay for insurance for our family and it does not cover hearing aids.  Only cochlear implant was covered.  Why?  My oldest daughter said.  ‘I don’t want cochlear implant.  I want hearing aids.  I should have a choice’.   

My husband and I have set a new savings goal.  Our goal is to save approximately $30k for future replacement of eight hearing aids for our family.  Isn’t that crazy.   Our goal should be saving the children’s college like any other hearing family.  .

We need change; this has gone on far too long. The time is now for insurance coverage for hearing aids.

Deb Mussallem, Lemont, IL