Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and help out! My name is Sidney and Alyson is a dear friend to our family and we would like to help her replace her Cochlear implant.

Alyson Coe was diagnosed profoundly deaf at 14 months old after her family discovered she didn’t startle appropriately to noises. Profoundly deaf meaning she cannot hear anything at all.

As a child, Alyson attended an oral deaf program to learn to hear and speak. She was there for 10 years. Oralism instead of ASL is the education of deaf students through oral language by using lip reading, speech, and mimicking the mouth shapes and breathing patterns of speech.

At age 11 she underwent surgery for a Cochlear Implant. With lip reading and this implant Alyson was able to communicate more efficiently.

Alyson has always had a huge passion for swimming. She grew up with a pool and also swam in the swim team. One of the biggest struggles with that is, the implant device is not waterproof, so she would always have to take it off. So, playing Marco Polo or communicating while swimming didn’t come easy.

In our world today being deaf and communicating isn’t always easy. We wear masks that inhibit lip reading and muffle sounds. Some mistake Alyson’s voice for an accent and do not speak clearly and lack patience for Alyson not being able to hear them or read their lips.

Alyson uses her Video chat to call her friends and family so she can read their lips. She isn’t able to make needed or wanted phone calls if that video chat ability isn’t available. With a new Cochlear implant, she would be able to use Bluetooth technology to call people, listen to music/TV and other things she hasn’t ever been able to do or enjoy. Also with more updated devices she would be able to hear much more clearly.

Insurance as you know doesn’t cover everything and not at 100%. To replace Alyson’s outdated implant would cost them roughly $6000 after insurance coverage. If you can donate, every penny will be given to Alyson to help her communicate better and increase quality of her life. Let’s give Alyson that joy!!!!