Dear Sophie, Hi! My name is Tionna Mitchell, and I am 12-years-old. I live in Halifax County, Virginia. I have a mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss in my left ear. I wear a hearing aid and use an FM system in the classroom. My hearing aid helps me hear most speech sounds that I wouldn’t be able to hear without it. It also helps me to localize sounds and follow general conversations. My FM helps me hear my teacher as well as my classmates during group discussions and

HOW does Gwendylan hear? With her karate belt on, a chess piece in hand, and two hearing aids! All About Me Hi, I’m Gwendylan, a 6th grader from Santee, California. I love school, especially my favorite subject, math. I attend a hybrid program; 2 days a week I go to school and the other 3 days I do homeschool with my mom. I have taken piano lessons since I was 7 years old, and I love to play chess with my dad and my friends. I love nature and the outdoors, and I eat a vegan d

HOW does Kasey hear? With her headshot in hand, two adorable Labradoodles, and a hearing aid and cochlear implant! All About Me Hi, I’m Kasey from Duxbury, Massachusetts! I am 10-years-old and will be starting fifth grade this fall. I have one older brother, one younger sister, and two Labradoodles (that’s a labrador + poodle) named Ollie and Finley. My family and I love spending time at the beach, but that’s not all I love to do! I also love reading, swimming, drawing, going

Emma, 19, is a rising sophomore at Smith College in Massachusetts. She was diagnosed with moderate to severe bilateral hearing loss at birth, started wearing hearing aids at six-months-old, and attended Clarke Philadelphia at age 3. She was mainstreamed in preschool, but Clarke has been there to support her ever since. They helped explain her hearing aids and FM system to her classmates and teachers and assisted in the IEP process. Now in college, Emma works with her school’s

Dear Sophie, Hi! My name is Gabe, I’m 11-years-old in 6th grade. I live in New York with my amazing parents and dog named Bear. When I was 5-years-old, my pediatrician found a cholesteatoma in my right ear, an extra skin growth that can grow and destroy the bones in the middle ear. I had surgery to remove it, and a year later, I had another surgery to put a titanium implant in my ear. It replaced two of my three middle ear bones. I use a Phonak CROS® hearing aid and an FM sys

Dear Sophie, Hi! My name is Drew. I am 15-years-old, and I’m from Valley Stream, New York. I have a high frequency hearing loss in both ears. This means I have trouble hearing speech sounds like /s/, /f/, and th without my hearing aids. When I was 3-years-old, I had cancer. Now, I am better! My hearing loss started because of my chemotherapy treatment. The doctors found my hearing loss after they did a BAER (brainstem auditory evoked response) test. This measures how your bra

Jorge's How-To Guide: Becoming Your Own Advocate Jorge Delgado and his teachers were thrilled when they got the opportunity to pilot 24 Phonak Dynamic Soundfield Systems at their school. But what happens when you have amazing technology in your hands, and no one knows how to use it yet? 17-year-old Jorge took it upon himself to learn how to assemble each soundfield system, train each general education teacher receiving the technology, and transform his school in the process.

All images of Elena LaQuatra wearing crown/sash were taken in 2016 during her time as Miss Pennsylvania USA. How does Elena hear? With a microphone in her hand, a sash across her chest, and one cochlear implant! Hi, I’m Elena! I am a 25-year-old from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who graduated from college with a major in broadcasting. Oh, and speaking of Pennsylvania, I just finished representing my state this year as Miss Pennsylvania USA! Now I am a Digital Video Reporter for a

Meet Celia & Lelaina, siblings from St. Louis, MO who never let hearing loss get in the way of fun! Celia, 7, has a cochlear implant and a hearing aid, and her sister Lelaina, 8, does not have hearing loss. They both love music, scooters, and their dog Linus! Celia: I like being so close in age to my sister because I feel like we are twins. Lelaina is there to help me in school, and she helped me feel better when I had my cochlear implant surgery. Lelaina: We love to have ‘sl

Cici's Hear to Dance Cici is a young dancer with a cochlear implant and hearing aid training to be a professional dancer. When she was on our cover in Winter 2014, she was 12-years-old and had just finished her first summer intensive at the Dance Theatre of Harlem in New York. Today Cici, who is in 8th grade, was selected for pre-professional dance companies at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in St. Louis, Missouri, and once again had the opportunity to attend the Dance Th