COLORADO SPRINGS — A 4-year-old Colorado Springs boy received a life-changing gift this holiday season, and it didn’t come from Santa. It came from his mother and the experts at the Bill Daniels Center for Children's Hearing at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Marilene Maciel was 16 years old when she found out her newborn son was hard of hearing. The news filled her with fear and sadness.
“I was crying to my mom like, ‘He’s not going to be able to hear my voice.’ That was just my fear,” she said.
She says it was her faith, family, and staff at Children’s Hospital Colorado that helped her stay strong during this difficult time.
“A mother doesn’t ever expect for her first child to be hard of hearing,” Maciel said. "It’s something that just hits you, but with the help and everything that he’s gotten, it makes me feel so much better especially as a mom because you do as much as you can for your kid.”
Osiel has hearing loss in both ears. He wears a hearing aid in his right ear. Since his hearing loss is more significant in his left ear, he qualified for a cochlear implant, and the surgery was completed in October of 2024.
“Last Christmas he didn’t have the cochlear implant, so he wasn’t really hearing as much or getting as much access as other kids,” Maciel said. “Now with the cochlear implant, he’s able to hear much better and even engage in more things with our family like Christmas songs, playing around, hearing the bells differently, clearer.”
So, what exactly is a cochlear implant?
“A cochlear implant is a different surgical device, where hearing aids are just no longer enough,” said said Jessica Goodstein, an pediatric audiologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “The cochlear implant bypasses any damage in the inner ear, the cochlea, which is the cause of hearing loss and basically takes over the function of the inner ear and directly sends the signal and a clearer signal to the auditory nerve and then up to the brain.”
Goodstein activated Osiel’s implant and was in the room with his family, who all witnessed his reaction to hearing clearly for the first time.
Activation is just the beginning. The next step is working with a speech therapy group to learn how to verbally communicate and adjust to these new noises.
“Having people who have lived these experiences helps parents know it’s going to be OK," said Sarah Robinson, a speech-language pathologist and member of Children’s Hospital Colorado’s Support team.
She shares a unique bond with Osiel because she also wears hearing aids.
“When I first met Osiel, I showed him my hearing aids and his face just lit up," Robinson said. "He pointed to his ear and then looked at my ear, and I said ‘Yeah, it’s the same, right? I have one and you have one.’"
Robinson has been a speech-language pathologist for 15 years and was born deaf/hard of hearing. She says access to mandatory hearing testing plays a major role in getting children who are deaf/hard of hearing the help they need.
“Specialized pediatric care makes a big difference for kids, and that’s not something I had access to when I was younger. I was not seen by a pediatric audiologist,” Robinson said. “I think that is part of the big difference between my story and Osiel’s story: getting kids hooked in with a specialist right away can really make a huge difference.”
“It’s a nice coupling of getting early access to hearing through the cochlear implant as soon as we can, so they can start understanding the speech sounds and then be able to say them and speak,” said Goodstein.
Speaking with Oseil is the part of the process that his mother says she's looking forward to the most. As Osiel continues to develop his communication skills, his mother says she's committed to giving him every opportunity to thrive.
“If I don't give him the support he needs then who will? You know? So, as a mom I was like I have to look out for my son and give him what I can,” Maciel said. “Kids with hearing loss or any other needs, it just makes them more special than what they are. I just think giving them the help and support they need is more than what you can offer them.”
Children’s Hospital Colorado tells News5 they’ve completed 16 cochlear implants in 2024 in Colorado Springs alone. Hearing impairment remains one of the most common birth defects, but thanks to universal newborn hearing screenings, early detection is making a significant difference in improving lives.
‘You have a purpose,’ Child cancer survivor is giving back to Children's Hospital Colorado
A high school student in Colorado Springs who survived a brain tumor is now helping other children who are going through cancer treatment.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
