Jake's hearing loss was first diagnosed when he was 5 months old. His parents, Kent and Sonia, noticed that he wasn't responding to oral cues, but several doctors examined Jake and said nothing as wrong with his hearing. When a friend referred the family to HEI's Children's Auditory Research and Evaluation (CARE) Center, a series of tests there revealed that Jake had a profound hearing loss.

There was damage to many of the tiny nerve cells that line his inner ear (cochlea) and transmit sound impulses to the brain. As a result, the nerve cells did not respond to sound signals from the environment. On the advice of John House, M.D., and Institute audiologists, Jake tested several different hearing aids. When he was not helped by even the most powerful of them, Dr. House suggested that he would be a good candidate for a cochlear implant.

Initially the family decided against the implant. The entire household began learning sign language so that everyone could communicate with him. Meanwhile, Kent and Sonia explored different programs for deaf and hard-of-hearing children, spoke with other parents and weighed all of the options. A few months later, they decided that a cochlear implant might be the best choice for them after all. They wanted to give him the opportunity to use all means of communication possible, including speech.

Jake received the cochlear implant when he was 21-months old. Eleven months later he is doing very well with his implant and can understand some speech. "Other parents warned us not to expect to see any improvements for about three months," Kent said. "But after five weeks with his cochlear implant he said his first word – “more”. He can distinguish our voices and also seems to be quicker at learning sign language.” Jake currently is mainstreamed into hearing programs to improve his oral language skills. Kent and Sonia are delighted with his progress. "When he wakes up every morning asking for his speech processor, we know that we made the right decision," Kent said.