A progress report concerning bone conduction hearing for babies

Fabian is 12 months old and was born with a closed auditory canal. As the Ponto from Oticon Medical achieves excellent results in terms of bone conduction for babies, Fabian was fitted with a Ponto 3 on a softband at the age of eight months. The aim is to provide Fabian with the best possible initial conditions for language acquisition.

 

Name: Fabian Hielscher 
Indication: Unilateral deafness due to a closed auditory canal

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The Ponto gives the child a fantastic quality of life. There is nothing to compare with it.

Hearing loss due to ear malformation

Fabian is twelve months old. He has two older siblings. The family lives in Berlin-Mahlsdorf. Fabian was born with malformation of the ear. His left ear is smaller than it should be and the auditory canal is closed. Shortly after birth, an MRI scan revealed that the middle ear and inner ear were intact. Apart from the ear malformation, Fabian is a healthy child overall, about which his family are very happy and relieved. The fact that Fabian's mother is a trained audiologist certainly contributed to it not being long before Fabian tried out the Ponto as a hearing solution after their initial concerns.  

Fabian’s path to wearing a Ponto

As a trained audiologist, Fabian's mother was already familiar with Oticon's hearing instruments. Convinced of their sonic versatility and user-friendly customisation options, it was an easy decision to opt for a Ponto hearing system that allows bone conduction hearing for babies. Fabian reacted immediately to noises from when the softband with the Ponto 3 was fitted for the very first time. His mother was quickly convinced: “It worked well right from the beginning. The sound was so pleasant for Fabian that we stuck with it”. His two siblings were also thrilled because Fabian suddenly reacted to them and the noises they were making and turned in their direction. Both thought that was great.

Keeping up with peers

The Ponto 3 allows Fabian the best possible initial conditions for language acquisition. Since his mother knows that language development in children starts the moment they are born, it was important to her to start treatment as quickly as possible. Even the sounds babies make are important building blocks of language development. This includes crying out as well as babbling. Even though the baby cannot speak yet, listening is essential for language acquisition. It can be delayed if a baby does not have full hearing. That’s why Fabian's mother advises families affected to start with suitable hearing solutions as early as possible to ensure language acquisition progresses normally. In Fabian’s case, the Ponto 3 was the right choice: “Fortunately, thanks to the Ponto, Fabian's language acquisition is not compromised at all. Linguistically, he is on a par with other children and he is starting with exactly the same sounds."

Everyday life with the Ponto

Last but by no means least, Fabian's mother is thrilled with how quickly the baby has accepted the softband and sound processor, and how well the Ponto can be customised with different stickers and different softbands.  She can well imagine that the Ponto is also an adventure for the child and is seen as a piece of jewellery. Her summary: “With the Ponto, Fabian always has a pleasant listening experience. It doesn’t matter whether it is very loud or very quiet around him. It's a great piece of equipment that's easy to use and great to customise!"