Georgy, who has a cochlear implant, needs help from speech specialists

Georgiy has a cochlear implant in his left ear and a hearing aid in his right ear. These devices help the boy cope with third and fourth degree hearing loss. However, teaching him to speak clearly and correctly is beyond what these devices can do. Here, intensive sessions with specialists and our help are needed.

Thanks to the daily efforts of his parents, Georgiy has already built up a good vocabulary and can communicate in short phrases. However, not everything he says is easy to understand. His mom and dad often have to act as interpreters.

"Our son talks a lot and without shyness, but he makes many pronunciation mistakes, gets confused with genders and numbers, and forgets about endings and prepositions," says Tatyana. "He also has difficulties understanding speech. For example, if you ask him, 'Who did you go with?', he won't understand the question. Only if you rephrase it as, 'Did you go with mom?', he'll answer, 'Yes, with mom.'"

There are no specialists in their small town who know how to work with children with 'electronic hearing.' All hope is on out-of-town rehabilitation sessions at a speech and hearing center, after which Georgiy immediately shows noticeable progress. Specialists see good potential in the child, and his parents dream that their son will finally catch up to the age norm for speech development and be able to attend a regular school. Because there simply isn't another school in their town. If maximum effort isn't made now, the boy's only prospect will be a special boarding school. Let's help Georgiy speak freely and clearly!