December 3 is the day chosen to remember that people with disabilities have the right to an inclusive education. That day he summoned us Alain Afflelou to invite us to the presentation of their new centers of Audiology which offers a guarantee of professionalism in the adaptation and monitoring of hearing aids for patients of all ages. We were told that it is starting in many cities in Spain with the implementation of audiological cabinets in which you can access the latest technology available and with exclusive patient care.
further Alain Afflelou He showed his commitment, as he did with other initiatives, with the children and presented us with the case of Francisco. This child was diagnosed at birth with a hearing loss of more than 90 dB, that is, sounds like conversations, ambient noise or nature sounds are lost, so they made a cochlear implant in both ears at 15 months of age to try to minimize your disability.
And, as they explained to us, in Spain All hospitals have the capacity to perform diagnostic tests for the hearing of newborns because the child's intellectual and social development could be compromised in the case of not doing so.
To avoid that Francisco (in the image explaining the functioning of the ear) was at risk of social isolation by not having access to oral communication that also impacts on the ability to read and communicate, the implants were placed. A cable comes out of each implant that connects to the hearing aid that picks up the sound, amplifies it and sends it to the auditory nerve and from there to the brain. Thanks to that implant, his life, with six years, is as normal or even above average of children his age.
Although in addition to implants, Francisco is very stimulated by the "tribe", what José Antonio Marina would say, because he has the collaboration of the speech therapist, the teacher, the pediatrician, the ENT, the school counselor and of course his family. His mother, who accompanied Francisco during the presentation, explained the huge effort made although worth it because there is nothing more to see to the boy how hustler he is and how well he manages. He also goes to the pool, where he must obviously take off his headphones while swimming, he is learning to play the violin, an instrument that generates a lot of high frequencies and that are some of those that Francisco would lose without the help of the implant and also knows the language of signs. Francisco ended up being an outstanding student and outperforming other children without disabilities. We were moved by his experience and we are sure that he will be a child who will succeed in whatever he intends.
During the meeting, nothing was said about the total cost needed to perform an intervention of this type or the cost of maintenance, although his mother did tell us that in the batteries consume 100 euros per month to get Francisco to listen to the reality that surrounds him as much as possible.
In addition to Francisco's experience we could see a lot of action in action devices prepared to improve people's disabilities, especially those of children. Besides headphones, with an extraordinary miniaturization in which the limitation seems to be the size and duration of the battery, we were able to test other devices, such as glasses that I tried on, that can be seen in the image and that allow to receive the sound through the bone mastoid. And I attest that they did it perfectly.
I thank Alain Afflelou for the invitation to present his new line of business focused on improving the hearing of young and old. Were Pedro de la Nuez, audiologist and Laura of the Hill Ridge, responsible for Audiology at Alain Afflelou Optician and Audiologist Spain, who contributed to facilitate the dissemination and communication during the session.
And of course I congratulate and wish the best to the mother and her son Francisco who showed us everything he has been able to learn at six years old and that I am convinced that he will not stop until he gets very far. It was also very interesting to know the opinion of other attendees, school counselors and speech therapists, who were very surprised by Francisco's progress and recognized the importance of teamwork to minimize children's disabilities.
