CHENNAI: The TV was playing in full volume, baby Kranthi is fast asleep, totally oblivious to the surroundings; somebody closed the door with a loud thud, Kranthi was in deep sleep still. That’s when the nine-monthold’s grandmother Shanti felt something was amiss.
When the boy was playing in the hall of the house, the woman brought some vessels from the kitchen and dropped them behind him intentionally. “The sound was so loud, but Kranthi didn’t even turn back,” Shanti said. The 55-year-old woman was quick to take the issue with her son. And after a lot of discussions and persuasions, the baby was taken to a doctor who diagnosed him with congenital hearing loss.
Now, the toddler who has become the youngest person to undergo cochlear implant surgery in a government hospital in the State can pick up the language like any other normal child of his age. Doctors said, Shanti is the finest example to every parent and they should be aware of the hearing loss in children, if any, at an early stage itself. Ask Shanti, she would say, she knows how a baby of four or five months would react to different sounds from the surroundings as she was married to a big family and had raised so many children including her grandchildren.
Plus, she was also more careful in monitoring every baby in her house as three of her brothers- in-law were born with congenital hearing loss. “I always have that fear in my mind,” she said. The baby was initially taken to a private hospital in Chennai. Since the private hospitals are charging anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 13 lakh for cohlear implant surgery, the baby was later taken to Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. Head of Department, ENT at Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, Dr S Muthuchitra, said, “The baby was diagnosed with congenital hearing loss. When he was brought to us, he was nine months old. This is the youngest child to undergo cochlear implant surgery in a government hospital in the State. We were happy that the child was brought so early. Now he can acquire spoken language like any other normal child of his age.”
Kranthi, now one-year-and-two-months old, underwent the surgery in June this year at the hospital when he was 11 months old. “Now Kranthi can say ‘Amma’,” said Shanthi as tears of happiness rolled down her cheeks.
When the hearing loss is diagnosed late, the child will not be able to hear anything or speak till they are made to hear with cochlear implant or other hearing aids. “In such cases the child will always lack in speech development. If the intervention is done early, the child will be able to develop his speaking ability on par with normal children,” said Audiologist cum Speech Therapist at Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, V Sumee.
*Names of the baby and the woman have been changed