HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Hearing aids have changed Annabelle Allocco’s life.
“She’s just connecting with the world again,” said her mother, Amy.
And just in time to start middle school.
“It’s just like being able to hear teachers. Getting higher grades because now that I can hear,” said Annabelle.
Annabelle’s parents first noticed her hearing issues when she was five.
“I just remember coming home and not being able to hear them,” said Annabelle.
“We just realized the not answering or all of a sudden the decline in school was something else going on,” said Amy.
There were constant ear infections and then holes in her ear drums.
Finally came the need for hearing aids in both ears.
Which brings a price tag of almost $7,000.
Kristen Decelles with Parkside Audiology is her audiologist.
“Nothing hurts worse as an audiologist not being able to do your job appropriately because somebody can’t afford $7,000 for a good set of hearing aids and the FM remote microphone system,” said Decelles.
But Annabelle’s family didn’t have to go into debt to get her what she needed because of a new program from the Florida Department of Health and the Sertoma Speech and Hearing Foundation.
It’s open to families in financial need with kids 18 and under.
And covers most of the costs.
Annabelle is the first in Hillsborough County to get her hearing aids through this program.
The changes came immediately.
“All of a sudden, she goes, what’s that noise? What’s that noise? She struggles going in Starbucks because of how loud it is,” said Amy.
The Health Department says three out of every 1000 newborns have hearing loss, which is the most common congenital disability
And even mild hearing loss has significant implications for kids learning.
“I can come home (from dance practice) now and realize the stuff they told me that I was never able to hear before,” said Annabelle.
