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Karen's Journey to Better Hearing and Communication

A happy, giggly third-grader, Karen Batista is bilingual in Spanish and English, and excels in school. But this hasn鈥檛 always been the case. Just two short years ago, Karen鈥檚 first-grade teacher realized that something was amiss with the quiet, shy little girl who always sat in the front row. Says Karen鈥檚 mother, Caritina, 鈥淗er teacher would speak directly to her and she wouldn鈥檛 respond. She didn鈥檛 even turn her head when teachers said her name.鈥� At home, Caritina noticed that Karen didn鈥檛 speak much and when she did, did not articulate well, but didn鈥檛 know why.

At the teacher鈥檚 urging, Caritina took Karen to a county clinic where an on-staff hearing specialist detected that Karen suffered from hearing loss in both ears: mild to moderately severe in her right ear and mild to moderate in her left ear. This meant that Karen heard normal conversation at less than a whisper鈥攁nd explained her lack of language skills. The clinic, along with California Children鈥檚 Services (CCS), referred the family to the聽Pediatric Audiology Service聽at Lucile Packard Children鈥檚 Hospital to verify the diagnosis and fit her with hearing aids. In fitting Karen with state-of-the-art digital hearing aids in both ears, the Audiology Service at LPCH gained a lifelong patient. 鈥淲e came to the Audiology Service to get Karen鈥檚 hearing aids and never left. We love the staff here. They are like family to us,鈥� says Caritina.

One of the primary factors in the family鈥檚 decision to stay at the Audiology Service at LPCH was that some of the audiologists and all of the support staff members speak Spanish. Because Karen is the only English-speaker in her family, this was a huge consideration in where Karen would receive medical care for her hearing loss. 鈥淭he audiologists speak Spanish, so we can communicate with each other well. This helps me understand what they recommend for Karen, and I can make better decisions for her,鈥� explains Caritina.

Possibly more important than the communication aspect is that the staff members at the Audiology Service at LPCH do more than just fit and adjust Karen鈥檚 hearing aids. They have become her advocates in her school and her community. 鈥淜aren鈥檚 audiologist is very concerned that Karen receives all the services she needs at school, and that everything she needs in order to facilitate her hearing problem is in place,鈥� says Caritina. 鈥淔or example, a speaker system has been placed in her classroom and the teacher wears a microphone at all times so that Karen can hear what she is saying. Without the help of the audiologists at LPCH, this wouldn鈥檛 have happened. I didn鈥檛 even know I could request this.鈥�

In addition, Karen鈥檚 audiologist ensures that she receives regular speech evaluations at school. These evaluations not only help monitor Karen鈥檚 learning progress, but also they can be an 鈥榚arly warning鈥� system for any hearing degradation or issues with her hearing aids. The Audiology Service at LPCH also helped Karen鈥檚 family find financial assistance for her hearing aids, which are very expensive. 鈥淭he audiologists at LPCH helped us work with the CCS program to cover 100% of the cost of the hearing aids,鈥� says Caritina. 鈥淲ithout this assistance, we wouldn鈥檛 have been able to get Karen the help she needs to succeed and learn.鈥�

Today, two years after the initial placement of the hearing aids, Karen鈥檚 progress in school is noticeable to all. 鈥淪he wasn鈥檛 speaking either Spanish or English very well because she wasn鈥檛 hearing others speak, so she wasn鈥檛 picking up language skills. Today, she is fluent in both languages and speaks very well,鈥� says Caritina. 鈥淎nd her performance in other subjects, such as math, science, even music, has improved too, because she can hear the teachers鈥� instructions.鈥�

Caritina says that her daughter has become more outgoing, thanks to the hearing aids. 鈥淏efore, Karen was a bit shy and very quiet. Now we know that was because she wasn鈥檛 hearing well and couldn鈥檛 fully participate in school and the family. Today, she鈥檚 happy, smiles a lot, and expresses herself more. We have the Audiology Service at LPCH to thank for that!鈥�

Learn More

• Pediatric Audiology Service