His parents had to clap to get baby Lincoln Martin’s attention before they realised he had a hearing problem.Rowena Williams said it was only when her son was four months old that they realised something was wrong.
“Whenever we called his name, we had to use our hands as well,” said Williams.
Today, the bubbly eight-year-old has a cochlear implant, thanks to Frere Hospital.
A cochlear implant is an electronic hearing device designed to bypass the damaged parts of the inner ear by electrically stimulating the hearing nerve.
The nerve then sends a signal to the brain where it is interpreted as sound.
The latest statistics show that in South Africa, 5.5 out of every 1000 babies are born with congenital and early-onset infant hearing loss.
Adri Schlichting, head of Frere Hospital’s speech and audiology unit, is the only person qualified to do cochlear mapping in the central and eastern parts of the province, in both public and private sectors.
She did her cochlear mapping training through Stellenbosch University 11 years ago and to date, has done 15 switch-ons in total from both sectors and sees an average of 25 cochlear implant patients a month.
“Lincoln received his cochlear implant at the end of 2009 and was switched on in 2010,” she said.
Once tests have been done to determine hearing loss, the patient is then fitted with a hearing aid.
In dire situations, where hearing loss is severe, patients are funded to undergo cochlear implant surgery at Tygerberg Hospital.
Frere Hospital funds the children just for the device, which costs R250000, and Tygerberg offers its services for free.
The patient returns to Frere to heal for three weeks before the device can be switched on. Frere does not have the facilities for the surgery yet.
The implant is inside the skull and is attached magnetically to an outside component with electrodes that help transmit sound.
Once healed, cochlear mapping must be done to determine a comfortable audio level for the patient.
Nine children have benefited from the programme since 2008, four of whom had the operation last year.
Lincoln is now in Grade 2 and has a great vocabulary today.
Thembi Katangana’s daughter was also diagnosed with hearing loss last year.
At the end of the year, three-year-old Endinako was fitted with a cochlear implant, which was switched on a month ago.
“I noticed last year that there was a problem because children Endi’s age were talking and she wasn’t saying anything,” Katangana said.
Today Endi can say a number of words. However her vocabulary is still growing.
An emotional Katangana said: “I’m so happy and excited about this.” — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
Frere’s gift is music to their ears
Rowena Williams said it was only when her son was four months old that they realised something was wrong.
“Whenever we called his name, we had to use our hands as well,” said Williams.
Today, the bubbly eight-year-old has a cochlear implant, thanks to Frere Hospital.
A cochlear implant is an electronic hearing device designed to bypass the damaged parts of the inner ear by electrically stimulating the hearing nerve.
The nerve then sends a signal to the brain where it is interpreted as sound.
The latest statistics show that in South Africa, 5.5 out of every 1000 babies are born with congenital and early-onset infant hearing loss.
Adri Schlichting, head of Frere Hospital’s speech and audiology unit, is the only person qualified to do cochlear mapping in the central and eastern parts of the province, in both public and private sectors.
She did her cochlear mapping training through Stellenbosch University 11 years ago and to date, has done 15 switch-ons in total from both sectors and sees an average of 25 cochlear implant patients a month.
“Lincoln received his cochlear implant at the end of 2009 and was switched on in 2010,” she said.
Once tests have been done to determine hearing loss, the patient is then fitted with a hearing aid.
In dire situations, where hearing loss is severe, patients are funded to undergo cochlear implant surgery at Tygerberg Hospital.
Frere Hospital funds the children just for the device, which costs R250000, and Tygerberg offers its services for free.
The patient returns to Frere to heal for three weeks before the device can be switched on. Frere does not have the facilities for the surgery yet.
The implant is inside the skull and is attached magnetically to an outside component with electrodes that help transmit sound.
Once healed, cochlear mapping must be done to determine a comfortable audio level for the patient.
Nine children have benefited from the programme since 2008, four of whom had the operation last year.
Lincoln is now in Grade 2 and has a great vocabulary today.
Thembi Katangana’s daughter was also diagnosed with hearing loss last year.
At the end of the year, three-year-old Endinako was fitted with a cochlear implant, which was switched on a month ago.
“I noticed last year that there was a problem because children Endi’s age were talking and she wasn’t saying anything,” Katangana said.
Today Endi can say a number of words. However her vocabulary is still growing.
An emotional Katangana said: “I’m so happy and excited about this.” — vuyiswav@dispatch.co.za
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