A Voice for Max

Max is aged 4 from Sutton in Ashfield in Nottinghamshire.

On May 12th 2017 our youngest son Max was born. Max was born a beautiful little boy to add to our family. Max failed his new born hearing screening test in the first hours of his life and at 10 days old he failed this test again. At 3 weeks old after extensive testing he was diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss at a profound level. A jet engine could be above his head and he would not hear it.

After test upon test Max, at the age of 11 months old, was cleared to undergo Cochlear Implant Surgery. The surgery was a great success and just after his first birthday his cochlear implants were activated and he heard his parents voice for the first time. For several months Max made excellent progress and was beginning to say single words; wave, point and communicate, but then it all suddenly stopped.

At around 20 months old Max's eye contact almost vanished along with the words he had already developed and any sign of communication. He stopped eating his favourite foods, showed no awareness of danger and didn't seem to experience pain.

At 3 years old Max was diagnosed as Autistic. Max cannot talk but makes repetitive noises such as screeching and screaming sounds.

Max runs none stop, climbs, bounces and makes repetitive noises. He struggles to fall asleep and frequently wakes at 12 or 1 am and will stay awake all night. Max eats a very limited diet and consequently suffers with severe constipation. He really struggles to make eye contact and now often removes his cochlear implants leaving him with no access to sound.

With your help and support we can provide Max with an opportunity to move forward with stem cell therapy which has proven to assist and reduce the severe impact Autism has on his life and give him a chance to regain some of the basic qualities of life that he deserves.

Thank you for taking the time to read Max's story.