After four long years, a boy born with hearing loss was finally able to hear his parents’ voices and his own laughter properly for the first time, and his response did not disappoint.
Soon after welcoming her son Titan in 2021, Kaitlynn Johnson was informed of problems with his hearing. He was subsequently diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, meaning he was only able to detect around 30 percent of what a healthy person can hear.
There were a lot of unknowns when Titan was diagnosed. Johnson, 30, of Florida, told Newsweek that she “had no idea what his life would look like.” Nonetheless, she and her husband knew they would do everything possible to help their son have the “best life possible.”
Titan faced many challenges in the first four years of his life, as hearing loss significantly impacted his speech and development.
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“He was a little behind in preschool and we were told that we probably shouldn’t put him in kindergarten yet due to him not knowing certain nursery rhymes and his ABCs,” Johnson said. “Since he couldn’t hear the best, what he thought was correct was definitely not. His speech was affected due to him not being able to hear for four years.”
However, in October 2025, everything changed for Titan.
He finally got hearing aids fitted, and Johnson captured a video of the moment they were switched on.
At the time, the audiologist initially lowered the volume on the hearing aids to avoid suddenly overwhelming Titan. As soon as they were switched on, Johnson asked her son if he could hear anything, and his joyful laughter was all the answer she needed.
“Me and my husband were both in tears while giggling along with him. We were overwhelmed with joy knowing he would be able to hear at full capacity now. But it was also the emotions of how different his life would look as a kid wearing hearing aids,” Johnson said.
Titan continued to “giggle hysterically” as he took in all the new sounds that his hearing aids enabled him to hear. For the first time, Titan was able to hear his parents’ voices, their laughter and his own laughter clearly.
What Is Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss?
Bilateral sensorineural hearing loss is a condition in which hearing is reduced in both ears due to damage or abnormalities in the inner ear or auditory nerve pathways. It is the most common type of permanent hearing loss in children and can range from mild to profound.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 6,000 infants born in 2022 were identified with permanent hearing loss. The CDC notes that hearing loss affects approximately one to two infants per 1,000 births in the U.S.
Children learn to speak by listening to those around them, so hearing loss can significantly affect speech, language acquisition and development, audiologist Kira Savin told Newsweek.
“Depending on the severity of the hearing loss, a child may have difficulty distinguishing speech sounds, developing clear pronunciation, building vocabulary, and understanding or learning language,” Savin, the owner of the California Hearing Center and the Audiology Associates Westchester, said.
“These challenges can also affect learning, attention, social interaction, and academic performance, particularly during the critical early years when the brain is developing rapidly and forming the neural connections needed for language and communication,” she added.
Nonetheless, Savin suggests that hearing loss does not need to determine a child’s cognitive potential. With consistent hearing aid use, speech therapy and family support, they are still capable of reaching their potential.
Children like Titan may face difficulties, but it is rewarding to see them engage with the world around them.
“Hearing a child laugh or recognize their parents’ voices through hearing aids are incredibly meaningful because they represent new opportunities for connection, communication, and learning,” Savin said.
The Impact of Hearing Aids
A year after getting his hearing aids, Titan wears them daily. The now 5-year-old only removes them when he sleeps, has a bath, during water events, or simply when he needs a break.
Being able to hear properly has also boosted Titan’s development, as Johnson tells Newsweek that her son has made “tremendous progress” in the last year. He now does speech therapy twice a week and continues to make improvements.
Johnson shared footage on TikTok (@kaitlynnbjohnson12) of the moment Titan got to test out his new hearing aids for the first time. The throwback clip has melted plenty of hearts, generating more than 1.4 million views and 196,300 likes on TikTok at the time of writing.
It is a moment she will never forget, as Johnson acknowledged that seeing how far her son has come in the past year makes the video even more emotional.
“Watching Titan experience the world more fully through his hearing aids has been incredibly rewarding, but beyond that, we believe his story has the potential to encourage others,” Johnson said. “We hope that when people hear Titan’s story, they don’t just see a child with hearing loss. We hope they see a child who is deeply loved, capable, and whose life can point others toward God.
She continued: “The message we’d like to share is that even through adversity and uncertainty, having a firm foundation in who we place our hope and trust in—regardless of the outcome—is what matters most.”
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Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Charlotte Nisbet and Paul Donnelley.