Kayleb was only two months old when his family walked through the doors of the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, beginning their journey to understand how sound would shape his world.
After not passing his newborn hearing screening, Kayleb was referred for additional testing. An auditory brainstem response (or ABR) assessment confirmed his diagnosis of hearing loss, giving his family answers they hadn’t expected.
“I was sad, nervous, and a little angry,” Kayleb’s mom, Chelsea, shares. “You don’t want to hear that there is something wrong with your child.”
At just three months old, Kayleb was fitted with his first pair of hearing aids. He wore them consistently and embraced them quickly. He loved hearing, responding to voices, laughter, and the small everyday sounds that make up childhood. His hearing aids became part of him.
For a while, he thrived.
But as he grew, his hearing began to decline once again.
His parents started noticing subtle changes. Conversations became harder. Words were more difficult to catch. Sometimes Kayleb became quieter, other times, louder. He wasn’t always able to fully engage with others, even though he wanted to.
“It was especially hard watching him and his brother, Elijah,” Chelsea recalls. “They’re only about a year apart. You could see how much they wanted to connect, but sometimes they just couldn’t fully understand each other.”
In August 2023, at three-and-a-half years old, another ABR confirmed that his hearing had declined to a severe-to-profound level. This time, he was a candidate for cochlear implants.
For Kayleb, this meant possibility — the chance to hear more clearly and reconnect with the sounds and voices he loved.
“Choosing cochlear implants was not an easy decision. Kayleb loved hearing and had worn his hearing aids so consistently. Because of that, we knew how important sound was to him, and we felt implants were the next step.”
Then came the activation day — the day his cochlear implants were turned on for the first time, allowing him to hear again.
Watching Kayleb’s face as the sound returned is something his family will never forget.
“He lit up,” Chelsea, says. “That smile, it was the greatest feeling.”
Kayleb quickly bonded with his implants — his “new ears,” as he proudly calls them. He asked for the volume to be turned up. He worked hard to understand the new sounds filling his world. Slowly, he regained the speech he had lost.
Today, Kayleb is six years old and in first grade. 
He can hear even the softest whispers, something he once didn’t understand. He talks more with his family, is making friends at school, and can hear his coaches during ninja classes and swimming lessons. He is forming fuller sentences and becoming an enthusiastic reader.
He takes pride in caring for his “new ears,” charging his processors each night and, every morning, connecting his battery and putting them on himself. At school, he carefully hands his teacher the FM microphone — a small wireless mic that sends voice directly to his implants — so he doesn’t miss a thing.
His hearing journey is still part of his story. Large, noisy environments can be overwhelming. Listening takes focus, and sometimes that focus can be tiring. There are moments where standing out feels hard, especially as he learns to navigate the world in his own way. But Kayleb is proud of his implants. If you ask him about his ears, he’ll simply say, “I love them.”
Reflecting on their journey, Chelsea shares:
“I truly feel we have been blessed and supported every step of the way at the Glenrose. We have received nothing but the best care. The team helped us understand what felt overwhelming and gave us hope. This journey hasn’t been easy, especially for Kayleb, but watching him flourish reassures us that we made the right choice.”
This Cochlear Implant Awareness Month, we celebrate children like Kayleb, and the families and care teams who walk beside them, helping restore connection and confidence in their lives.
