Sudbury family video shows why 'life's worth hearing'

The Connolly family of Sudbury hopes to win a contest to help pay for a trip to a conference in Orlando, Fla., so their two deaf children can meet other kids who wear cochlear implants.

Naomi, 12, and 17-month-old Finn are deaf and both have cochlear implants. In their peer groups, they are the only ones who wear the devices.

"Basically she cannot hear an airplane taking off beside her if she doesn't have her implants in," said their mother Julie Connolly.

She said her son "could probably appreciate an airplane beside him, but he would never be able to hear with your ordinary hearing aid."

The Connollys, who also have three other children, plan to attend the Cochlear Celebration conference in mid-February. It will include education sessions for parents on the technology.

Meeting other children with implants is especially important for Naomi now that she is getting older, said Connolly.

"She's more self-conscious these days about that as a pre-teen."

The Connollys are hoping to win a contest to help pay for the trip and have created a video that people can vote for online: