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