Aiden is a triplet. He and his two sisters were born at 27 weeks. Aiden weighed 2lb 6 oz. at birth. He was very sick when he was born and stayed in the NICU for 3 months before coming home. Aiden failed his newborn hearing screening and was fitted with his first pair of hearing aids at 6 months of age.

Shortly after receiving his hearing aids, Aiden started attending LSL/AVT therapy  on  a  weekly  basis.  His sisters sometimes came to therapy too because Aiden needed to be able to learn in an environment with a busy family. It was helpful for me to learn to involve his sisters in his learning so that I could copy that at home. Aiden became a great listener and learned to talk, however his hearing progressively got worse as he got older. Aiden received his first Cochlear Implant at age 3. He got his bilateral implant 9 months later at almost 4 years old.

Aiden attended the first summer program of WISE, (formerly the Alabama School for Hearing) in 2009. He had just turned 4. This was a game changer in our family’s life. Aiden was now with peers and teachers who understood what it meant to have hearing loss and the extra care it took to help him catch up. Aiden loved coming to school and meeting other kids like him.

At WISE Aiden was able to be in a small classroomenvironment with goals designed to accelerate his learning to help him prepare for kindergarten.

After Aiden graduated from WISE, he was able to attend our public school with his sisters. I started back to work after being a full-time mom and had the pleasure to work as a classroom assistant at WISE for several years. I enjoyed being able to help other kids like Aiden get the language and listening rich preschool experience that Aiden had.

Aiden is now in 11th grade. He is an A/B student, plays trumpet in the high school band and competition band. Aiden played flag football for many years and is currently thriving in competitive mountain biking. He loves anything to do with cars and is looking for colleges where he can become a Mechanical Engineer. My family and I are forever grateful for WISE.

Sandy King- Aiden’s mom