One Family’s Journey
A New Member of the Family
By Lauryn and Braden Cox, Nevada H&V
Many individuals with hearing loss are the only members in their family with hearing differences. Other times, there are multiple members, spanning multiple generations. One southern Nevada family knows this all too well. Three-year-old Kace Cox has a genetic condition which affected the growth and development of his cochleas, and he shares this condition with his father, three aunts, and his paternal grandmother. Though their hearing varies from person to person, they all can relate and support each other. Kace and his father, Braden, are affected the most severely. Their hearing loss is bilateral and is marked by a progressive degeneration. Braden utilizes hearing aids and developed speech and language as a child before his hearing progressed.
Kace’s story, like his family members, is unique to him. Kace faced obstacles very early on when he was born five weeks prematurely. While his parents were living in a suburb of Denver, Kace was born on Christmas Eve following a stroke in utero. The stroke affected his vision and basal ganglia and caused developmental delays. His mom, Lauryn, was very proactive about connecting with Early Intervention and was able to get Kace the therapies he needed to recover as well as he has. He had vision therapy, physical and occupational therapists, and speech therapists, among others. His neurologist was very pleased with his progress and he continues to learn, grow, and meet developmental milestones.
He was a very quiet baby, and therapists encouraged getting a CT scan to follow up on the high likelihood that he would have the same genetic issues his dad and his family have. He had a CT scan which confirmed the unique cochlear development, and an ABR was performed, showing the early stages of hearing loss. His parents were encouraged to follow up. After moving to Nevada in 2018, Early Intervention, Deaf Centers of Nevada, and Hands &Voices connected with the family. They saw Dr. Tim Hunsaker and Desert Valley Audiology, who found that Kace’s loss had progressed and that he would benefit from hearing aids. Paying tribute to their Denver roots, they chose Denver Bronco colors for his hearing aids. Kace quickly got used to wearing them. No doubt, this was probably due to his dad wearing them full time. It’s easier to model proper care and maintenance of these delicate devices when it’s demonstrated by family.
Despite being aided, Kace’s speech was slow to come around. His parents worked with Early Intervention prior to Kace entering Clark County School District with an Individual Education Plan (IEP) after his third birthday at Don Hayden Elementary. His class is made up of students who all have hearing loss. It is a total communication school, so American Sign Language and spoken English are used simultaneously to encourage all possible language development. He loves school and is a very ambitious learner. He gets all of his therapies still, and has continued making lots of progress. Though mostly nonverbal, he uses ASL and is extremely expressive. He loves teaching others signs and connects to people at school very well. With his school and his extended family, he has multifaceted and multigenerational support.
Kace is an incredible child. He doesn’t let his struggles slow him down. He has a huge heart and wants to share a little love with everyone he sees, even the people in the grocery store. If he knows that someone is interested in trying to communicate with him, he will teach them, hand-over-hand. It is the cutest thing to witness. He even teaches his little brother. They sign together for hours and all you might hear are giggles. We are grateful for this new member of our family tree. ~
H&V Communicator – Summer 2020