by Henry's mum, Kayleigh

Following his operation to fit cochlear implants, Henry had the ‘switch on’ in April and it took him a while to understand what was going on. He asks for his ears on in the morning and we give him breakfast while watching Paw Patrol and he points at the TV and then points to his ears. Henry is now starting to understand what music is and will dance along which is amazing to see and we have taught him to tell us if he hears something new. For instance, if a plane is flying overhead he will point to the plane and then his ears to let us know he can hear that.

We experienced a wonderful moment while on holiday recently; we were sat on the beach following a storm, waves were crashing and Henry was amazed by the noise and was pointing towards the sea and then his ears.

"Experiencing the world through the ears of a newly hearing child is very humbling"

Henry doesn’t wear his magic ears in the bath or for bedtime, he takes them off and that is why sign is still so important to us. He will take his own ears off and wave bye to them before he goes in the bath. Apart from that he doesn’t touch the devices as I think he’s fascinated by his new noisy world.

Henry’s batteries on his devices are power hungry and need changing every other day. We have adapted his vests and sewed in pockets to store his battery packs. The coil which transmits the electronic pulses into his device (which is implanted under his skin) is attached only using a magnet and will constantly be knocked off during the day whilst he’s playing. We secure the processor behind Henry’s ears using toupee tape as being young his ears are still so soft. He is so patient despite being a busy toddler and allows us to secure all the equipment in place before he is switched on.

His vocalisation since switch on has increased 10-fold, he is so chatty now and very close to saying bye-bye and is understanding simple instructions. 

Help us support more children like Henry