Meet Charlotte

Charlotte joined our family on February 8, 2013. She was a full-term baby and came into this world glowing and healthy. Two days later, as we were packing up to leave the hospital and bring our third child home, we received the folder from the nurse. It was all typical procedure stuff, but I had to ask her to repeat one thing… “What did you say?”

“Your child failed her hearing screening.”

The nurse told me it was probably fluid in her ears, and I just needed to get her rechecked within the next months. Little did we know how that one Universal Hearing Screening would impact the rest of our lives.

(2/28/19 Note: Documenting Char’s hearing highlights by age/ year is taking me quite some time… come back again and hopefully I’ll have more than just her first year to share!)

Charlotte’s first year

From the first hearing loss follow-up appointment at a local audiology practice to our Early Intervention review for services and eventually building a team to support Charlotte’s journey of learning to listen, you can read about our experiences as a family, and how we all grew throughout her first 12 months.

12- to 24-months-old

Receiving her cochlear implant at 12 months and activation at 14 months, these next 12 months were filled with Charlotte hearing from her left ear for the first time, getting a new baby sister, starting a 2-day mainstreamed preschool program, and really kicking the language acquisition into high gear.

2- to 4-years-old

Learn how Charlotte used Virginia’s Early Intervention program to best meet her needs through 3-years old, how we transitioned into Henrico’s Deaf and Hard of Hearing public preschool program to best support Charlotte’s future, and also used private therapy to give Charlotte the most supportive foundation possible. (Yes, I’m exhausted just remembering these years, but IT WAS SO WORTH IT!!!)