Shobith was one of the first users of Cochlear’s N6 processor allowing him to go from a world of silence to a world full of new sounds. He was 1yr 3 month old when his mother accidently found out that he is not responding to sounds of cracker bursts during the time of Diwali. It took time, in fact months for the parents to accept that shobith has profound hearing loss. After he was found to be hearing impaired, he was started with hearing aids that helped just ever so slightly. Unlike other families who get depressed with the diagnosis, Shobith’s family took it in their stride and wanted to ensure that he gets the best intervention and he would hear and speak as his normal hearing peers. Parents approached Dr Vasanthi Anand and they were told right away he was an ideal candidate for CI and was implanted on 19th of Sep’15. He can now speak clearly in long sentences to communicate even with strangers. He comprehends complex commands and can effortlessly carry out story narration” Shobith is now attending a regular school and can communicate with his peers and teachers. . His success exemplifies the benefits of CI for those with severe to profound hearing loss.
Early identification and intervention to restore hearing is paramount and studies show that cochlear implantation is the most effective solution. Shreyas, one of the early cochlear implantees had his cochlear implant surgery on 22nd of November 2016 at Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Hospital. Ashwini & Santosh, parents of Shreyas are from Kotturu, Bellary District when they accidently found that his 1.5 yr son is not responding to loud sounds like a loud clap. Anxious parents took me to Davangere and got a complete hearing evaluation done which revealed severe to profound hearing loss. In a year’s span, they realised only minimal improvement with hearing aids. Shreyas’s father started to notice children with cochlear implants showing drastic improvement in less than 6 months. Families of other cochlear implant kids influenced them to decide on going for a cochlear implant. Dr.Vasanthi Anand and her team at Manasa Cochlear Implant & ENT Centre, Bangalore have been relentlessly driving the movement to restore the ability in as many individuals as possible.