, 20 Months, Quite a Musician with his Cochlear Implant, Mother Says

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From the Muskogee Daily Phoenix, Oklahoma, as adapted from an article by staff

writer

Spaulding, dateline January 1, 2005

.........................

At only 20 months of age, is quite a musician, his mother

says.

" He plays at the keyboard and sings to the music, " said.

What makes the accomplishment so great in this mother's eyes is that one year

ago, could not

even hear the music.

Unable to hear at birth, got a cochlear implant in March and was

responding to sound by the

time the Muskogee Phoenix profiled him last spring. He is one of several

individuals who made the

news in 2004 and whose stories bear updating.

said her son, one of triplets, had his second implant Tuesday and

is recovering well.

" He's all over the place, " she said.

And, while is not yet talking at the same level as his sisters, " he is

babbling in a normal

way, " she said.

" He's learning to turn his head when he hears a sound and he can recognize

sounds like 'the cow says

moo,' " she said. " If you tell him to throw something in the trash, he'll do it. "

A cochlear implant replaces a nonfunctioning cochlea, an inner ear organ that

turns vibration into

impulses sent to the brain. The implant is inserted under the skin next to the

brain.

said 's second implant will not be activated until February.