Bree Steffen with Spectrum News recently interviewed Dr. Michelle Hu in San Diego as part of her story, “Scientist advancing discoveries to restore hearing loss”, published December 12, 2022.

No parent ever wants to hear their child cry out in distress. These are words that my mom and dad had to hear more than a few times as I grew up. The very first time, my mom says she sprung out of bed in a panic — she didn’t know what to do. She wasn’t a physician nor was she an audiologist, so she was left to wonder - Was it just a cold? Was it an ear infection? Something worse?

As a kid, I'm sure this happened often without my knowing. Sometimes I did know and shrunk back, pretending to be oblivious. Other times I remember tucking my hair back behind my ears to show my hearing aids off, as if I 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 them to ask me directly. Most days I was a very social child and I'd simply say "Hearing aids, they help me hear better!" ⁣⁣⁣Anything said with confidence and carefree attitude was usually received pretty well.

Many parents and family members wonder if sounds will be too loud for their child when they get a cochlear implant. I wondered the same thing before my own initial activation.

If you had told my mom 35 years ago that I would grow up to become both a pediatric audiologist and a classically trained chef she never would have believed you. At that time, I was diagnosed with mild hearing loss secondary to Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome/Pendred Syndrome and fit with bilateral hearing loss shortly after. My mom was told that I would probably not go beyond a third grade reading level.