In October of 2011, our lives were changed in a big way. That month, Austin was born five weeks early. He spent 5 days in the NICU, and just before he was released from the hospital, he failed his newborn hearing screening. Since then, Austin has gone through many test procedures and the doctors and audiologists have determined that he is a candidate for cochlear implant surgery. As parents, we feel that cochlear implants are the best possible option for Austin and our family. On this blog, we will post as much information as possible to help those around us understand cochlear implants and the role that they will play in our family.

Donate Here

CLICK HERE TO DONATE HERE

Or send donations to:

Audible Ears for Austin
P.O. Box 245
Jerome, ID 83338

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Upcoming Events:

Upcoming Events:



Down Syndrome Buddy Walk - Sept. 15th

By-Invitation Benefit Dinner - Sept. 20th

Scrapbooking Retreat - Sept. 21st & 22nd

Bake Sale (Liberty, MO) - Sept. 22nd

Family Fun Spooky Run - Oct. 22nd (Click here for information) (Click here for registration form)

The Great Pumpkin Auction and Dinner - Oct. 27th (Click here for information)



Contact us for information about any of these events at daveandmichelle28@gmail.com.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Auction Items

These are the items that will be available for auction/silent auction at the dinner this Saturday.







Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Here is information about The Great Pumpkin Auction on October 27th.  Tickets are now available.  Contact (email) us at daveandmichelle28@gmail.com to purchase tickets.  Tickets are $6 each.

Registration Form
 
The 5K will cost $25, the (1)K will $10, and the family rate for the (1)K is $50.


This picture gives you an idea of the physical characteristics of cochlear implants.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Austin Video

We have the most amazing family, friends, and support network!  One of our friends put together the following video for us about our boys.  Truly amazing...


Friday, September 7, 2012

T-Shirts

We are going to sell t-shirts to help raise funds for Austin's surgery. A great friend has put together a few designs for us.  Color choices are white and navy blue.  There are two designs that we will do on each color. This is what they will look like:





If you are interested, let us know ASAP.  We need to know which color, which design, and what sizes. As far as pricing goes, they will be $10 for childrens small and extra small, and $15 for any other sizes.

Email us at daveandmichelle28@gmail.com to order.  Our first order is going in this weekend, so the sooner we know, the better.

UPDATE:  As this t-shirt project expands, please be aware that we may have to charge for shipping.  We will do our best to not have to do that, but for orders outside of Utah and parts of Idaho, that MAY be the case.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

A Little Additional Background

So I thought it might be good to go back and add a little more detail to the background behind Austin's cochlear implant surgery that is coming up.

Like it says up top, while Austin was in the NICU after he was born early, he failed his newborn hearing screening.  The audiologist told us that that may have been because he was early, so we scheduled a follow-up screening a couple of weeks later.  The second screening and additional more in-depth testing showed the same results, so we were referred to another audiologist at Primary Children's rehab in Bountiful.  After additional testing there, it was determined that Austin has profound sensorineural hearing loss in both ears.

Since Austin was about a month and a half old, he has worn hearing aids to help stimulate his auditory nerve.  It doesn't seem to help him hear much unless the noises are extremely loud, but he usually babbles more (especially in church) and seems happier when he has them in.

We have seen a myriad of doctors from ENT's to audiologists to genetics doctors to the surgeon that will do the implant surgery over the past 10 months.  That doesn't count all of the therapists that we have come to our home from Early Intervention and the Utah School for the Deaf and Blind.  At this point, between Logan and Austin, we see a doctor or therapist at least three days a week, quite often five days a week, and sometimes as many as two or three a day depending on how schedules work out.  We are so very, very grateful for the help that we are able to receive though!  Our boys are learing and growing and developing at a rate that is far ahead of where they could be.

So, somewhere in the process we had additional testing done and it was determined that Austin is a candidate for cochlear implants.  The doctors and audiologists feel that he will have significant benefit from these devices.  As parents, it was not an easy decision to make if we wanted to go ahead with cochlear implants, or if we wanted to learn sign language and forego the cochlear implants.  There are some pretty strong feelings that are expressed both within the deaf community and outside of it as well about cochlear implants.  We have tried to listen and make a decision that we felt was best, and to the extent possible, right for Austin first and foremost, and secondarily for our family.

So onward we go.  We have chosen to provide cochlear implants for Austin.  Along with the decision to do that, we have chosen to have both ears implanted (bilateral).  In the next few weeks, we meet with more audiologists, continue on with our fundraising efforts, choose which brand of cochlear implants to go with, and have faith that this is all going to work out.

Monday, August 27, 2012


This is a short video that shows how cochlear implants work.