Anonymous

 I was the third child born to my parents, Ray and Trase Gonzales. I have two older brothers; Ray III who is twenty and Nick who is eighteen. My brothers and I are very close in age so there was always lots of play time in our house. I always got along great with my brothers until we were introduced to the internet.

        My given name is Elisha Marie Gonzales, but my friends call me Lish, Lishie, or Eli. I started school at three years old in the early intervention program at Lakewood School because I was born profoundly deaf. I communicated by sign language until I recieved my Cochlear Implant at Oakland Children's Hospital when i was five years old. My surgeon was Dr. Sean Althaus. He was among one of the best C.I. surgeons in the world and trained other doctors to perform the procedure. An electrode array is surgically implanted into the cochlea. When activated by the external processor, electrical impulses are percieved as sound by the brain. The first time I heard a human voice was very frightening to me. Adeline, my speech pathologist, spoke my name very quietly several times. When I realized that the sound I was hearing was coming from her mouth, I climbed onto my mother's lap, hid my face, and cried.

        My Cochlear Implant opened up a whole new world to me. I had to get through a very confusing time when nothing made sense and everything sounded scary. I went from a silent world to one that almost everything makes a sound. I heard the voices of my family for the first time. I heard my kitten purr, my bath water running, and things I didn't even know made sounds like kisses, laughter, footsteps, wind in the trees, and all the sounds that make up daily life.

I am now sixteen years old and in eleventh grade. I am interested in animal rescue, computers, web designing, and NASCAR. I don't know what the future holds, but I know I have alot more options available to me because of my Cochlear Implant.