Interview with Christina Marmor by Barbara Kelley
For Christina and Chuck
How did you find out that
Christian had a hearing loss?
Christian was born via C-section at
almost 42 weeks, and at nine pounds,
was a healthy, happy baby. On day
two of our hospital stay, he was taken
into the nursery for the newborn hear-
ing screening. The nurses brought him
back, along with a red piece of paper
that explained that he ‘referred’ on his
screening. We were told it was prob-
ably due to fluid in his ears, and not
to worry.
In our four-day hospital stay, he
was tested two more times, and re-
ferred again, sometimes in both ears,
sometimes in just one. We left the
hospital a bit nervous, but we never
thought that he had sensorineural
hearing loss. Hearing loss was the last
worry on our minds as no one in our
family had a hearing loss, and we were
convinced that the fluid in his ears
would clear.
Over the next few months, we
noticed that Christian wasn’t respond-
ing to sounds the way that a new-
born baby should. One afternoon, I
dropped a metal bowl on the floor
by accident, which made a very loud
clanging sound. And my sweet little
baby laid in his bassinet sound asleep,
not even flinching from the sound.
We visited various audiologists
and ear-nose-throat doctors who told
us that maybe he had a hearing loss,
maybe he didn’t. Finally, after almost
eight months of inconclusive testing,
we took Christian to Johns Hopkins
where a sedated ABR (Auditory Brain-
stem Response) test was performed.
Our audiologist came out and put
her arm around my shoulder and
told us that Christian had a severe-
profound, bilateral sensorineural
hearing loss and was deaf. I felt as if I
was falling. I had a pit in my stomach,
and I began to sob. I was absolutely
devastated.
14 Hearing Loss Magazine
Marmor, getting a diagnosis
of hearing loss for their
first-born baby took some
time. But once they were
finally told he was “deaf,”
they took action.
However, at the same time, I had
a sweeping sense of relief. She was the
first person to actually use the word
‘deaf.’ She was the first person to give
us answers. At least we knew what was
wrong with our sweet little boy.
What was the first thing you
did after knowing for sure that
Christian had a hearing loss?
Despite our grief, Chuck and I went
into warrior mode. We knew that we
had to do anything and everything
we could to help our son. We im-
mediately made the decision that we
wanted to teach Christian to listen
and speak. We got in touch with our
county’s early intervention team and
made an appointment to fit him with
hearing aids.
Did you make decisions alone
with your husband or did you
rely on others as well?
From day one in our journey with
Christian, we have relied heavily on
our family and friends for support.
Our parents made it clear that no mat-
ter what path we chose for Christian,
they would support us. Our friends
were amazing, supporting us and
crying with us on the hard days,
and cheering and celebrating on
the better days.
What was your biggest fear
when you learned your baby
had a hearing loss?
I laid awake many nights fearing a
silent, lonely and isolated world for
Christian. I worried about how he
would communicate not just with
his family, but the world around him.
I worried that something that I did
during pregnancy caused his deafness.
We did learn that his hearing loss
is caused by the Connexin 26 gene
mutation, of which both Chuck
and I carry the gene.
Who or what was the most
helpful in your dealing with
your child’s hearing loss?
By far the best decision we made in
regard to Christian’s hearing loss has
been giving him his cochlear implant.
He was implanted at 14 months of
age, and now at 3-1/2 years old, he is
testing above age level in all aspects
of language. He is a silly, sweet, and
imaginative little boy, who uses his
words not just to listen and speak, but
to play! Christian’s implant has given
him access to speech and environmen-
tal sounds that his hearing aids just
couldn’t reach.
Our family was also blessed with
an amazing early intervention teacher,
Miss Mara. She provided support not
just to Christian but also to our entire
family. We will always be grateful for
her commitment to giving Christian
the tools and resources to listen and
speak.
Where does Christian go to
school? How did you pick this
school?
When Christian was 18 months old,
he started at The River School in
Washington, D.C. We knew that to
best maximize Christian’s aural rehabil-
itation with his cochlear implant that
he would need to be in a language-rich
environment. The River School is an
inclusive school, where children with
hearing loss are educated side-by-side
with typical hearing children. The
class sizes are small and are staffed
continued on page 16
 Moving
from Grief
to Warrior
Mode
Photo of Christian Marmor © Cindy Dyer

September/October 2010 15
 Moving from Grief to Warrior Mode continued from page 15

by a master’s-degree-level educa- By far the best decision we

tor and an in-class speech-language
pathologist. Christian has become a
class leader, not just keeping up with
his typical hearing peers, but often
surpassing them!
How have other children
reacted to his hearing loss?
yer
made in regard to Christian’s
hearing loss has been giving
him his cochlear implant. He was
implanted at 14 months of age,
and now at 3-1/2 years old, he
is testing above age level in all
aspects of language.

Christian’s hearing loss is a non-issue

© Cindy D

within our neighborhood and school

community. His friends understand
armor
Christian M that his cochlear implant and hear-
a , Li lia na , Chuck and
Christin ing aid help him hear, just like
glasses help his friends to see.
What would you want other
children and parents to know
about the challenges you and
Chuck faced as parents?
r
a Marmo
and school, and our neighbors. We
never want Christian to feel alone, es-
pecially since he is the only person in
our entire family with a hearing loss.
We’ve made sure to surround him
with not just peers at school who also
have hearing loss, but we also have
made friends with several adults who
have cochlear implants. We also know

I think it is so important to not to some Deaf families and have become

define your child by his or her hear- involved in our local HLAA Chapter
ing loss. Don’t let it limit your child and the HLAA Walk4Hearing.
© Christin

or your family. It’s so easy to get

caught up in the never-ending cycle
of therapy and appointments. Re-
Liliana an
d Christia member to let your kid be a kid and
n
enjoy your time together as a family.
What accommodations have
or
Christina “Tina” Marmor lives in Kens-
ington, Maryland, just outside of Wash-
ington, D.C., with her husband Chuck
and two children, Christian (3-1/2)
and Liliana (1-1/2). When not shut-
tling children between play dates, school,

you made for Christian so that therapy appointments, and grocery store
ina Marm

he has a healthy self-concept runs, Tina is a passionate advocate for all

and high self-esteem? children with hearing loss. She currently
© Christ

While we never let Christian’s hearing
loss define who he is, we have tried
to also celebrate his differences. We
let him pick out his cochlear implant
speech processor covers, which he was
so proud to show to his family, friends
is the Maryland co-host for the Cochlear
Online Community and volunteer chair
of the Washington, DC Walk4Hearing.
She chronicles her family’s cochlear
implant journey at www.livelaugh
lovefamily.blogspot.com.

Christian

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16 Hearing Loss Magazine