Miss Kate Morris

Kate is a precious 20-month-old who loves chasing after big sister Maggie, rocking her baby dolls, dancing to music, playing outside and getting into whatever she is supposed to stay out of. At first glance she seems just like any other 1-year-old. She loves to run, climb and blow bubbles. What makes Kate special? Many things actually, but among them are her "ears." Kate received bilateral cochlear implants when she was 10 months old at Children's Hospital in Birmingham. The surgery was done by Dr. Audie Woolley.

Kate is profoundly deaf and has sensorineural hearing loss in both ears, and the cause unknown. She is the only child with hearing loss in our family. Kate failed her newborn screening test and was referred from the hospital for a followup with our local ENT. She had an ABR at 2 months at our local ENT’s office, and we were then referred to Dr. Woolley at Pediatric ENT and Associates. In December 2007, at 3 months of age, she had an additional non-sedated ABR that confirmed the hearing loss. Kate received her first pair of hearing aids at 3 months from the HEAR Center and wore them almost up until her surgery in August 2008. Kate receives Auditory-Verbal Therapy (AVT) at the HEAR Center twice a month.


Kate has made amazing progress. After testing a few weeks back, I was told that Kate’s scores match those of her peers. Her language skills have caught up to her chronological age. Her speech has blossomed in the last two months. She now has over 50 words and is putting them together to make short phrases.
I will never forget the look on her face at her activation. It still takes my breath away to see her react to the simple sounds that I have taken for granted like a dog barking, the birds singing and giggling of sisters. One of my greatest joys is watching her dance to music. She also loves to point up at the airplanes flying overhead.

Here she is singing with her older sister in the car.

Kate is a gift to me and all those she meets.

Written by Kate's mom Ashley