This website was developed in an effort to provide access to information about Auditory Neuropathy to the parents of children diagnosed with this unusual hearing disorder. It has no affiliation with any doctor, audiologist or hospital and is strictly owned and operated by myself, the parent of an AN child.

Auditory Neuropathy, referred to as AN, is a confusing diagnosis that has sparked conflict among professionals in the field of audiology. Because AN is not a typical hearing loss it is misunderstood by many audiologists, speech language pathologists, and teachers of the deaf. Many parents of children diagnosed with AN have received conflicting information and advice about diagnosis, management, and recommendations as to which mode of communication they should use with their children. Most of us have had to fight to obtain the services and equipment our children need.

Hearing aid use with AN is a heavily debated topic among professionals in the field. Some facilities have chosen to use hearing aids with AN children with limited success. There is current research stating that hearing aids are useful if about 50% of the cases but again, this is disputed among professionals. There is also professional disagreement over the use of cochlear implants in patients with AN. As the number of successfully implanted AN children grows, there are more and more referrals for cochlear implantation evaluations being made. Seminars for audiologists are being held throughout the country to promote and encourage understanding of the disorder and it's management. As of 2008, there are several children with AN that now have bilateral cochlear implants and are progressing wonderfully with them.

As parents, it becomes difficult to decide which path to follow with our children, especially with all the disagreement among professionals. We must become case managers, advocates,and educators for our children. We must educate ourselves about this disorder called Auditory Neuropathy so that we can educate others, including many professionals that work with hearing impaired children.

The driving force behind this website is my love for Jacob, my son. He was diagnosed with auditory neuropathy in 1995 when he was thirteen months old. We were told that Jacob was the sixteenth infant with AN that Charles I. Berlin, Ph.D. at Kresge Hearing Research lab in New Orleans was familiar with.