A Different Type of Loss

A young boy adapts to his hearing deficiency

Deaf? Five year old Ariyan Dhamani and his

parents were just told that he has high frequency
hearing and loss, and has a chance of going
completely deaf.
Until he failed his pediatrician's hearing test,
Dhamani was just like any other child. Now he is
among the other 470 million people around the
world who have some degree of hearing loss. 34
million of these people are children, and just like
them, Dhamani has to adapt to his new life with a
hearing deficiency.
“They put headphones on my ears and they
put on something and I tried to hear it,” Dhamani
said.
When Dhamani started experiencing
recurring illness such as ear infections, his parents
decided that it was time to speak to his doctor
about what could be happening. The pediatrician
decided to administer a hearing test and they found
that Dhamani could not hear all the frequencies
played for him. That is when they realized
something was off, and Dhamani was
recommended to go see an audiologist.
Smiling with his classmates, Ariyan
participates in activity centers at Hebron
Valley Elementary on a spring
afternoon. He had to put in his hearing
aids to be able to properly follow
instructions. “They hurt my ears,” Ariyan
said. “But I will get used to them.”

“In December, when Ariyan was experiencing some congestion and ear
infections I could tell that he was having some difficulty hearing,” Dhamani’s kindergarten
teacher, Kelli Ariola, said.
Ariola has been teaching at Hebron Valley Elementary for 17 years; 14 of which
she has been a kindergarten teacher. Ariola realized Dhamani engages in lessons and
actively participates. It was clear to Ariola that Dhamani took his schoolwork very
 seriously, and it was apparent to her that he was starting to have issues following along
in class. She noticed that he seemed less attentive during stories and circle time.
“We had a sense of urgency and duty to get our son the help he needed,” Dhamani’s
mother, Salima Dhamani, said.
Salima and her husband, Amyn, wasted no time in making Ariyan an appointment at
Family Audiology in Plano, Texas. They were ready to receive some clarity since after several
attempts, Ariyan had still failed his pediatrician’s hearing screening. They wanted to get to the
source of Ariyan’s hearing problem, and did not hesitate to ask for help.
“We were the last clients of the day and I was certain the audiologist was either wrong or
just tired from a long day,” Salima said.
Though Ariyan probably did not fully understand the intensity of the situation, his parents
did. The immense shock and disbelief hung in the air as they stood there completely numb.
Neither of Ariyan’s parents could believe what they were just told: Ariyan had a high frequency
hearing deficiency and will need hearing aids.
“I was surprised at how significant the hearing loss was,” Ariola said.
Salima and Amyn had mentioned to Ariola at the beginning of the school year that there
were some concerns with Ariyan’s hearing. However, Ariyan had followed the directions and
routines of the classroom and compensated well with his work, so it came as a shock that he
would need hearing aids.
“They made a mold,” Ariyan said. “They made a plastic ear. They put bubblegum stuff in
my ear, and when it was hard they took it out and it looked like my ear.”
When Ariyan went to go get his hearing aids made, they created a mold so his aids
would custom fit his ear. It is important for the hearing aids to fit snug in his ears so that the
amplified sound it not traveling back outside the ear and creating feedback. Ariyan quickly
picked up on how to use his hearing aids and rarely asks for help from his parents.
“The hearing aids are quite costly and having to trust a five year old to always be
responsible with them makes me squirm at times,” Salima said.
The hearing aids cost around 4,000 dollars. About 2,000 dollars each. These aids are
essential to helping Ariyan have an easier life at school and both of his parents are very anxious
about such significant things being in the hands of a child who could easily lose or break them.
“Working with Ariyan and his disability has been fairly easy,” Ariola said.
While Ariola has had students with other disabilities, Ariyan is the first child with a
hearing deficiency. The accommodations Ariola has made for Ariyan are simply strategies that
she would use normally in her kindergarten classroom. Ariola does one-on-one checks with
Ariyan to make sure he is following directions properly and does visual checks to see if he is
understanding what is being said. Though Ariola believes that these, along with other
arrangements, are naturally good teaching practices that already take place in the classroom.
“Accommodations are put into place and we are working very closely with the district
audiologist in getting a FM system in place,” Salima said.
Ariyan has gone from wearing his hearing aids only when he is comfortable, to wearing
them throughout the entire school day. He has gone from asking the nurse for help putting them
on, to doing it by himself. However, regardless of how much progress Ariyan has made with his
hearing aids, Salima and Amyn believe a FM system will make his school career a lot easier. A
frequency modulated system allows people with hearing deficiencies to hear what others are
saying in noisy and loud environments. It is a wireless speech system that uses radio waves to
send speech and other signals to hearing aids.
“My friends asked me ‘What are those?’,” Ariyan said.
Ariyan would get questions from his classmates and other friends about what was in his
ears. Though both his mother and teacher agree that he has a great deal of confidence when it
comes to telling others why he has hearing aids and how they help him.
“I actually asked Ariyan to tell the class about his hearing aids and how they work the
day after he got them,” Ariola said.
Ariyan’s peers were very welcoming to the idea of his new hearing aids and were very
encouraging of their classmate. Ariola also added to the class that is was similar to boys and
girls who wear glasses to help them see better, but Ariyan’s aids help him to hear better.
“I feel tremendously blessed to have a community of fellow speech pathologists who
have helped guide and shape my understanding of hearing loss,” Salima said.
Though she is not currently practicing, Salima is a speech pathologist who has helped
children from two to 14 years of age with language, speech, cognition and development. A huge
part of speech is sound and articulation; this has helped Salima to better comprehend what
Ariyan can and cannot hear.
“I am also very fortunate to be apart of a support group,” Salima said.
Salima has joined a support group for moms of children with hearing loss. The group
keeps her informed and up to date on hearing issues. She knows she can go to them with any
questions or thoughts she may have and their responses will teach her how to help and support
Ariyan the best she can. Most importantly, the group keeps Salima positive and reminds her that
she is not the only one in her situation.
“Truely, if you ask us, it has not been a huge impact for us and our interactions with him,”
Salima said.
Since Ariyan young, newly diagnosed and newly aided it is difficult to fully have a
detailed analysis on the impact it is making on his life. So while some people may see the
hearing aids and automatically treat him differently, to Salima and Amyn, Ariyan is still the sweet
and friendly young boy they’ve always had.
“While it may not seem like it now, Ariyan’s hearing loss will only help him grow
stronger,” Salima said.