I found this article in the Healthy Hearing newsletter and wanted to share it with all of the parents whose children are at one time or another self-conscious about their hearing aids or cochlear implants...
Winter's Tale: What a dolphin and a little girl teach us about hearing aids
Monday, August 17th 2009
Being born with hearing loss made 10-year-old McKenna McGough feel like a fish out of water. "Lots of my friends didn't have hearing aids, and it made me feel really uncomfortable about it," the Rowlett, TX girl told the Dallas-Forth Worth TV station KXAS.
So maybe it was fitting that encouragement to wear her hearing aids openly and without embarrassment came from the water as well, namely from an injured dolphin named Winter.
On a trip to the Clearwater, FL Marine Aquarium two years ago, McKenna met Winter, who lost her tail in a crab trap. Seeing the dolphin being fitted with a prosthetic tail was all the inspiration the little girl needed. "She's helped me in not being afraid to be different," McKenna said. "She's not shy to show her stump, so why should I be shy to show my hearing aid?"
That’s the spirit, McKenna. Hopefully other folks can draw inspiration from that spunky attitude too.
