9781422288184

13

Discovery

however, the sounds were booming. Surely this was too loud for a little baby’s ears. Yet Denzel seemed totally oblivious to the noises that made his mother’s eardrums rattle and hum. Dana instinctively hugged Denzel closer to her chest, wanting to protect him from the noises and wanting to protect herself from the truth. Tears slid from her eyes, down her cheeks, and onto Denzel’s face. Denzel reached curiously for the tears as they fell and smiled as the warm droplets splashed his skin. As the sounds exploded like bombs around her, Dana knew the truth. Her little boy was deaf. Released from the suffocating room with its war zone of sounds, Dana nodded her head dutifully as the technician explained that Denzel would need to take another test called a Brainstem Audio- evoked Response; the technician referred to it as a BAER. The BAER would help them identify the degree and type of hearing loss Denzel was experiencing. The technician explained that this test was good for very young children, since the results did not depend on a child’s feedback. A series of clicks would be played in each of Den- zel’s ears, and carefully placed electrodes would convey signals that would help them determine which of Denzel’s hearing pathways worked and which did not. Afterward, Dana tried to concentrate on the technician’s words, but all she could hear was the word “deaf ” ringing over and over in her ears. The BAER revealed that Denzel had some hearing—but he was still profoundly deaf. The technician told Dana about books, classes, and doctors, but all she could think about was telling her husband that his son was deaf. How could she tell Roger that Den- zel had never heard a single bedtime story that he’d read or his beau- tiful voice as he sang lullabies? Feeling detached from reality, Dana scheduled appointments for more tests and bundled Denzel up for the trip home. The bright sun glazed the budding trees with a golden glow, but the freshness in the morning air passed unnoticed over Dana as she strapped Denzel into his car seat. Birds chattered merrily, but Dana paid no attention to their cheerful songs. Normally when traveling in the car, Dana would talk to Denzel about where they were going