Arkansas Hands & Voices: Jaxon's story

Arkansas Hands & Voices is a comprehensive group of parents and professionals that work together to benefit children and families with children who are deaf or hard of hearing. ARHV’s goal is to provide Arkansas families with the necessary resources, networking, and information in order to improve communication access and educational outcomes for their children. Our statewide activities, advocacy efforts, and parent/professional collaboration are all focused on enabling our deaf and hard-of-hearing children to reach their fullest potential!

I was asked to be on the board of directors almost a year ago and now have the opportunity to serve as the secretary as well.  This organization has become near and dear to my heart.  We were hesitant to get involved for quite sometime because we felt like  Jaxon  did not "fit" .... because his hearing loss was not "severe".  Although, Jaxon didn’t really "fit"in the hearing world either.  Eventually, we made our way to an Arkansas Hands & Voices activity.  It was a definite blessing to us to have that social support from parents that had children with hearing loss and despite the severity of hearing loss a child has there are still common concerns that we all have as parents.   The knowledge & support the professionals brought to the table was also a great blessing.  We learned very quickly there is rich diversity in the deaf& hard of hearing world and that everyone fits!

Every October ARH&V has their annual fundraiser Tasting at Twilight.  This year they decorated the tables with framed copies of different children’s hearing journey along with a picture.  For those interested here is Jaxon's "hearing" journey!

Jax’s story is a victory for early identification and early intervention.  The first indications that Jaxon might have hearing loss came before he even left the hospital.   His hearing deficits were identified during the newborn hearing screen and after many attempts to get him to sleep through a hearing test – no matter how hard we tried, Jax would always fall asleep on the way to the hospital and then be wide awake and smiley during the hearing tests! – we had a confirmed diagnosis of bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. 

Jaxon had his first pair of hearing aides by the time he was four months old.  Thanks to an aggressive approach to early intervention in California, Jaxon was enrolled in the San Diego Unified School District a short time later and soon began receiving in-home (and occasionally at our office, depending on our schedule) speech therapy.    We worried that the move from San Diego to Conway would result in a step backward in his treatment, but were delighted to find an even more committed and caring group of providers in Sharon Ross, Jan Stroud, and others in the Central Arkansas deaf and hard of hearing community.

Jaxon is doing great today.  We recognize how much we owe to the support of the entire community that has supported his growth and development.