CHRISTIAN!! PHENOMENAL BILINGUAL LITTLE-MAN

One of my first friends on the PEDIATRIC COCHLEAR IMPLANT CIRCLE was a mom named Sabine who lives in Germany with her four sons and hubby. We chill on the computer after a long day of being moms and check in with our support groups at the same time, because she is in Germany and I am in Italy...so, every now and then we send each other a message during our computer time. She is raising her son Christian to be bilingual, he speaks German and English brilliantly.

This is what she would like everyone to know about Christian:
Christian is 6 years old, lost his hearing due to bacterial meningitis and received two implants in one surgery at the age of 10 months (Feb. 2001).
We have followed the auditory-verbal approach ever since.
Christian, just like his three brothers, is fluently bilingual in spoken German and English. He attends an English school in Germany and is doing extremely well.
This video shows him as a host of his class assembly.
We would like to say a big "thank you" to Christian's one-in-a-million class teacher, Mr. Preston, who has pushed Christian beyond his limits.
(No limits here...)
GO CHRISTIAN!!!
IT IS WELL WORTH YOUR TIME TO CLICK ON THIS LINK! AND TO THINK THAT ENGLISH IS HIS SECOND LANGUAGE!
NOTE:
Bacterial meningitis accounts for around six per cent of all hearing impairment in children. According to recent research 72 per cent of these children will become deaf before their third birthday. Deafness at this age can have a severe impact upon a child's development of social and language skills. For this reason it is vital that hearing impairment following meningitis is identified as soon as possible so that parents can adopt appropriate strategies for combating its effects. DEAFNESS RESEARCH UK
IN ADDITION:
Cochlear Implants Navigating a Forest of Information…One Tree at a Time provides the following information in its section regarding cochlear implant candidacy: ...If meningitis is the cause of hearing loss, it may be important for the child to be implanted as early as possible as this condition causes ossification(bone build up) in the cochlea, making it increasingly difficult to surgically insert the electrode array as time passes.

Apparently, Christian's family acted quickly and have been working hard ever since...now this is an inspirational child!