50 | JULY 29 • 2021 

W

hen Yehuda Klein 
of Oak Park goes 
to a playground 
or library, strangers often 
take a second glance. The 
unspoken (and sometimes 
spoken) question is: What 
are those things on the side 
of his head? 
Many people have never 
seen cochlear implants 
before. According to 
the National Institute 
on Deafness and Other 
Communication Disorders 
(NIDCD), as of December 
2019, there are only about 
736,900 implanted cochlear 

devices worldwide. In the 
United States, about 118,100 
cochlear devices had been 
implanted in adults and only 
65,000 in children. (The FDA 
only approved it for eligible 
children in 2000.) 
In the Metro Detroit area, 
Yehuda Klein is among the 
few children with cochlear 
implants. 
Yehuda’s hearing loss is 
not genetic. At 8 days old, 
Yehuda, now 7, developed 
a sudden life-threatening 
intestinal infection, and 
extremely strong antibiotics 
were administered. Hearing 

loss is a known unfortunate 
side effect of that vital 
medication.
By 8 weeks old, Yehuda 
was diagnosed with Auditory 
Neuropathy Spectrum 
Disorder (ANSD); sounds 
weren’t being transmitted 
from his inner ear to his 
brain. 
“His hearing was like 
listening to a broken radio 
with lots of static,” his 
mother, Keren Klein, said. 
Yehuda was referred to 
a specialist at Children’s 

Hospital and was given a 
hearing aid trial at 4 months 
old. 
By his first birthday, 
Yehuda was babbling and 
could speak 15-20 words, 
within the normal range. 
Cautiously optimistic, 
Keren, a science teacher at 
Farber Hebrew Day School, 
and her husband, Yosef, 
a lawyer, took Yehuda 
for further testing. They 
were shocked to discover 
that Yehuda had only 
been lip reading, was not 
understanding context and 
was quickly falling behind. 

At that point, cochlear 
implants were recommended. 

GETTING IMPLANTS
Cochlear implants have 
two parts: The first part 
is surgically implanted 
into the temporal bone. 
The second part is the 
processor, essentially a 
strong microphone that is 
magnetically attached to the 
first part from the outside of 
the head. Together, the pieces 
accept, decode and send 
electric signals directly to the 
auditory nerve in the brain.
There was no guarantee 
cochlear implants would 
correct Yehuda’s hearing loss 
… and if the surgery didn’t 
work, it could leave him 
completely and permanently 
deaf. 
“It was an extremely 
difficult decision,” Keren 
said. “It’s literally brain 
surgery. We did tons of 
research and then finally 
decided to go ahead with 
just one ear. That way, if it 
were unsuccessful, at least 
Yehuda would still have some 
hearing in the other ear.”
Yehuda received his first 
implant at age 2. Within 
days of his processor being 
activated, he was engaged, 
responding to music and 
participating in conversation. 
“It was clearly a huge 
success; it was as though 
everything had finally just 
clicked for Yehuda,” Keren 
said.
At age 4, Yehuda received 
his second implant, which 
was equally as successful. 
Every six months for his 
entire life, he needs to get 
“mapping” — a process 
that is like fine-tuning a 

Metro Detroit youngster is an 
ambassador for cochlear implants.

A Little 
Miracle

ROCHEL BURSTYN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KEREN KLEIN

HEALTH 

Keren and 
Yehuda Klein

continued on page 52 

