To be sure your child gets the best help possible, we work with the Ear, Nose and Throat (Otolarangology) specialists at The Lion's Children's Hearing and ENT Clinic. We also provide hearing evaluations at the Pediatric Specialty Clinic at Fairview Maple Grove Medical Center.

For many reasons, you can trust us and know your child is in good hands. We have advanced diagnostic technology that allows us to perform hearing screenings on your child beginning in infancy. Our audiologists provide aural (hearing) rehabilitation; they prescribe and program hearing aids and cochlear implants* along with other hearing instruments. We offer all three US Food and Drug Administration-approved cochlear implant devices.

Surgeons at University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital performed Minnesota’s first pediatric cochlear implant as well as the first bilateral (both sides) cochlear implant surgery on the world’s youngest patient -- a 6-month-old.

*Cochlear implants are electronic devices placed with surgery. They have a microphone and a receiver to create electronic impulses that create some sounds that are recognizable.

Developing community and providing support

We encourage communication and social opportunities for cochlear implant recipients from childhood into adulthood. In addition to hosting an annual cochlear implant picnic for children and adults, adults also participate in monthly gatherings to share information and build community.

Providing a variety of programs and services  

• Auditory brainstem response (ABR) testing, including stacked ABR
• Auditory-processing evaluations
• Aural (hearing) rehabilitation
• Bone-anchored hearing aids
• Cochlear implants
• Diagnostic-hearing evaluations
• Measuring signals produced by the inner ear Otoacoustic-emission testing
• Testing for electrical sound generation potential by stimulating the inner ear Electrocochleography
• Facial-nerve testing (Electroneuronography)
• Hearing aids, fittings and dispensing
• Tinnitus evaluations and prescription of noise generators
• Vestibular evaluations

A year later, they brought Keegan to University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital for a cochlear implant in his left ear.  “We wanted to find a facility that had a lot of experience in performing the surgery as well as the ongoing audiology support he would require for the rest of his life,” says Greg. The Cochlear Implant Program offers pediatric patients a team of experts in related specialties. Surgeons, audiologists, speech pathologists, psychologists and a geneticist all work together to care for each patient.

Nine years later Keegan had a decision to make

Although his first implant was successful, Amy and Greg knew a second implant would help him tell where sound was coming from and would help him hear over background noise. “We left the ultimate decision on the second implant to Keegan as he was old enough to understand the benefits and risks of undergoing the surgery as well as the intensive therapy,” says Amy. When he was 10, Keegan decided he wanted the second device—bilateral cochlear implants.

After the second implant, Keegan needed a lot of rehabilitation therapy for his right ear, which had not heard sound in 10 years. An aural (hearing) rehabilitation specialist helped Keegan’s brain understand the new sounds it was hearing. Listening games that were part of therapy. “We played lots of fun games that kept me interested,” says Keegan. “We played a basketball game called P.I.G., which I ended up winning a lot.”

Because of the therapy, Keegan’s parents say each week his right ear improved in its ability to recognize sound. Greg says, “The exceptional care started with Dr. Rimell, who provided his skills at surgically implanting the devices, and carries through to Barbara Friedman who provides his audiology support.” Frank Rimell, MD, is Keegan’s pediatric otolaryngologist, and Friedman taught the family about what would happen and when. She also kept track of measuring his progress and programmed the cochlear implant.