Born profoundly deaf in both ears, Nyleve grew up relying on hearing aids to hear sounds. However, considering the variety of noises hearing aids take in, the devices can easily cause a person to feel overwhelmed. Nyleve often took them out at times throughout the day, and then during the night. But even with her hearing aids in, she sometimes had to strain to try to make sense of sounds.
Relief for these feelings of insecurity recently came wagging her way through a yellow Lab named Yasmin. Now it’s Yasmin who sounds the alarm when Nyleve needs to be aware of a noise, by alerting her to a door knock, a fire alarm, a weather alert, a person calling her name and more. “I am now able to hear the sounds that I would not typically hear with my hearing aids and without my hearing aids in,” says Nyleve.
She remembers a couple of moments early in their time together when Yasmin was all ears. She shares, “I set an alarm on the Alexa and was able to hear it due to Yasmin’s nudging my leg and alerting me to the Echo Dot in the living room.
Shortly after that [my son] Ethan knocked on the patio sliding doors and Yasmin alerted me to the patio to let Ethan in.” She shares, “Life is a lot easier now with Yasmin around. She makes it easier for me to hear sounds that I normally would not hear without her. I am able to continue to go to community events and relax because I am not overly stimulated to hear or concentrate on sounds around me.”
Community events are especially important for Nyleve, who considers herself “an active social justice warrior.” She explains, “I love to be the voice for the voiceless.” Similarly, Yasmin loves to provide her voice to help Nyleve, who says, “Dog sounds are a lot easier for me to hear.” Plus, Nyleve gets a kick out of seeing Yasmin react so positively when this proud pooch does something well.
It’s easy to imagine Nyleve grinning from ear to ear as she thanks Can Do Canines’ donors and volunteers for their support. “Without the donations and supporters, from the puppy raiser to the prison puppy programs, we would not have the assistance dogs in our lives.” She adds, “To the trainers at Can Do Canines, thank you as well. Y’all make it possible for us to live our lives to the fullest.”
Thank you to all those who made this partnership possible:
Great Start Home: The Elkins Family
Puppy Raiser: Federal Correctional Institution-Sandstone
Special Thanks: Linda Stefonek
You: Thank you for your donations!
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