Mom Invents Genius Way To Give Confidence To Kids With Hearing Aids

Jun 21, 2019 by apost team

Everyone wants to fit in. Being different can be incredibly difficult, especially for children. Other kids -- and sometimes adults -- are often curious and ask questions or stare when someone stands out. There's nothing wrong with being curious, but it can make the person who's different feel singled out or uncomfortable.

Sarah Ivermee discovered this for herself. Her son, Freddie, was born with congenital cytomegalovirus, or CMV. CMV is a fairly common virus. Experts estimate that by age 40, more than 50 percent of adults have CMV. A normal, healthy immune system typically keeps the virus from causing any symptoms or illness.

However, in infants and people with compromised immune systems, the virus can cause problems. Babies become infected when CMV enters the placenta.

In many cases, it doesn't cause any issues. For Freddie, it affected his hearing. He lost almost all hearing in one ear. He lost much of the hearing in the other ear as well.

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He got his first hearing aid when he was two months old. Later, he was able to get a cochlear implant. While this seemed like a good thing, problems soon arose.

Freddie didn't want to wear his hearing device. It was clunky and ugly and made him stand out from the rest of the kids. He wasn't the only child who felt this way. One of Sarah's friends complained that her daughter didn't want to wear her hearing device either.

That's when Sarah had an idea. What if she decorated the device for the little girl? She prettied it up with cute stickers, and the girl loved it. It made her feel so much better about wearing it.

This one simple thing made such a huge difference that Sarah wondered if it could help other children as well.

Inspired, she began Lugs, a company that sells kits for decorating hearing devices. The kits offer a wide range of styles. Whether a child likes sparkly butterflies or superheroes, there's something for everyone!

The best part? The kits are super affordable.

As more people discover the kits, their popularity continues to spread around the world. Parents are posting pics of their happy children showing off their now adorable devices.

Despite this growing popularity, Sarah still customizes the kits by herself from her living room! She really cares about making children more comfortable with wearing their hearing aids and cochlear devices.

Because of this, she makes the kits easy to order. Parents just pick a kit, specify which device their child uses, and they're good to go.

What started as a simple idea to help a child turned into a blossoming business that is helping many children all over the world. What do you think about Sarah's kits? Should more people think outside the box to help others?