Mom Uses Super Heroes To Help Get Her Son To Wear Hearing Aids
Having a disability isn't always the easiest for kids, so this mother decided to try and give [...]
Having a disability isn't always the easiest for kids, so this mother decided to try and give her son the confidence he might have needed.
Sarah Ivermee's son, Freddie, was diagnosed with intense hearing loss when he was just three months old. Last year, Freddie received a cochlear implant, which is a surgically-implanted hearing device.
Ivermee told The Mighty that having the implant isn't for everyone, and not always the easiest choice to make, "but it has made Freddie's world a much bigger place."
Much like customization with everything from bike helmets to shoe laces, kid's love to express themselves and show off with little things about the stuff they like, whether it's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman, Spider-Man, Star Wars, etc. So what Ivermee did was pretty clever here.
Taking some advice from a friend, who also has a hearing-impaired daughter, was to simply add stickers and what looks like keychain parts to the implants, giving them a bit of style and flair instead of something that might make the kid feel ostracized.
Ivermee started up Lugs, that provides kits for the implants so that parents can style them in some really fun ways. "I thought there would be a lot of families struggling with children who don't want to wear their [hearing devices], and I felt I had to help," she said.
She also hopes it helps any child or parent having a difficult time with their child's confidence wearing the device. "We just hope we can help as many children and adults as we can and have fun and creative devices that they are proud of."
Per her website, she is currently out of stock of everything, but plans to continue on after some business counseling.
