Story Project
Roman's Story
Tell us your story.
Roman was adopted from the Ukraine when he was four. He
was deaf and his medical history is unknown. When he came to
America, we got his hearing tested and ended up at
Children's Hospital in the Audiology Department. He
got his first hearing aids right before Christmas when he was
4 1/2. He loved them and loved sound. Roman recieved aural
rehab and for several years and when he was ten, he recieved
a cochlear implant. Wow, what a wonderful world of sound
Roman was able to hear. He can hear the rain, whispers and
the cat playing with a superball in the next room. Roman
continues to recieve Aural Rehab and loves everything about
hearing. His speech has blossomed and he hopes to be able to
talk on the phone with his friends.
Roman also recieves counseling services through
Children's Psychiatry Department. He meets each week
with a therapist who helps him with issues related to his
adoption, deafness, learning disabilities and ADHD. One of
his summer highlights is the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Summer
Camp program at Children's. Roman loves being around
other deaf kids and signing adults. This has become more
important to him when we moved far from Deaf school programs
and he was mainstreamed full time.
Roman has grown up with Children's. He visits
every week and tries to make time to go down to the playroom
to see his friends and practice the piano. He talks about his
friends at check in and loves it when they greet him by
name.
What does Children's mean to you, your child and your family?
Children's Hospital gave our family the gift of
sound. Roman loves to hear and he works very hard to be able
to have good speech to communicate with his hearing family
members and friends. I'll never forget when Roman
first put on his hearing aids. He sat frozen in his chair. He
didn't want to move in case the sound went away.
When he got braver, he moved his head slightly from one side
to the other. Within a few minutes he was bouncing around
exploring sounds. He had a similar experience when his
cochlear implant was turned on. He was so excited to hear so
many new sounds and with in a week we were having
conversations through the bathroom door. That's very
important to a mom and kid!
We have faced many challenges through the years with
hearing, mental health, learning disablilities and physical
illnesses. It is nice to know we have a great team at
Children's who can help us face and meet any
challenges that may come our way.