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Our Kids - Meet Mia

Four-year-old Mia was born profoundly deaf in both ears. She always had sadness in her eyes and it was not until she received a cochlear implant from SickKids that this sadness disappeared.

Mia

Mia, Severe Hearing Loss

When Mia was six months old, her mother Eva suspected something was wrong with her hearing. Instead of making babbling noises like most children her age, Mia consistently had a blank look on her face.

Eva decided to take Mia to their local hospital. After testing was done in a sound booth it was confirmed that Mia had a severe hearing loss and was instructed to go for further testing at SickKids.

At SickKids, Mia was diagnosed with complete loss of hearing in both ears. She was fitted for hearing aids but they all proved to be ineffective. Doctors then considered a cochlear implant. If Mia was a candidate, she would be among the first children in North America to receive an implant before the age of one.

Shocked and confused, Eva researched SickKids cochlear implant program. A cochlear implant is a device that helps to improve hearing in children and adults with severe to profound hearing impairments. It electrically stimulates the hearing nerve, allowing individuals with no capacity to hear the chance to recognize sound.

A series of tests confirmed that Mia was a candidate. At 11 months, Mia received a cochlear implant.

After a four-week healing period, the device was turned on and for the first time in her life, Mia experienced sound.

After the implant, hearing and speech therapy sessions helped Mia form meaning from sounds and build the ability to understand and create speech.

Mia began talking when she was two and a half years old. Although it was later than most kids, Eva will be forever thankful to the doctors at SickKids. "We live and see the everyday miracle that was given to us from SickKids. Through this ordeal we have met true angels on earth and for that we will and are forever grateful."

Today, Mia is fully mainstreamed in school. She talks and sings non-stop and still has a look of absolute marvel when she hears birds sing or dogs bark.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? Thousands of children like Mia need your support.