OGDEN, Utah — One Utah family is sharing their daughter’s hearing-loss journey during National Speech-Language-Hearing Month.
Four-year-old Stella Chugg was born with progressive hearing loss, meaning her hearing was expected to worsen over time.
“It’s so overwhelming and sometimes just based on what you’ve heard in your life, you might think, ‘Oh no, will she be able to live a normal life?,’” Zach Chugg, Stella’s father, said inside their home in Ogden.
Her mother, Kennedy Chugg, says that at first, their care provider believed it could have simply been fluid and hoped things would improve over time. But her condition didn’t.
Her parents noticed Stella could only hear certain things. After more tests, they learned Stella had progressive hearing loss.
Stella got her first pair of hearing aids when she was just over 2 1/2 years old. The Chugg family says the hearing aids helped, but that she needed more support.
“Everything just hit us all at once,” Zach explained. "We didn’t know a single person in the Deaf community.”
So, the Chugg family decided on a different option. In September, Stella had cochlear implant surgery. Cochlear implants are small electronic devices that help people like Stella by sending sound signals directly to the hearing nerve.
“Just the other day, it was raining, and the sound of the rain on the windows was blowing her mind,” Kennedy explained. "She had her hands on the screen, feeling the rain and the wind.”
On TikTok, Kennedy Chugg has amassed over 600,000 followers. There, she shares their day-to-day routines while navigating Stella’s condition. The Chugg family has built a space online focused on support and community.
“It’s been amazing to be able to connect to other parents with similar stories,” she said. “It’s amazing for me to see kids a little older than Stella and know that they have a super bright future as well.”
But cochlear implants aren’t the only tool available to families.
The Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing offers services including case management, employment help, hard-of-hearing services, budgeting classes, art classes, and ASL classes.
“Deaf individuals often feel isolated if they’re not around a lot of Deaf individuals,” Pamela Mower, who works for the center’s research and administrative team, explained through American Sign Language (ASL). “So, they’re able to come here for various activities, projects, and can socialize. The center is extremely important to us.”
Kennedy said watching her daughter grow has changed how she thinks about limits. “Seeing her just accomplish everything she loves and wants to do changed my opinion on what limitations you can set for yourself and your kids,” Kennedy said.
More information about resources and classes at the Sanderson Community Center is available at jobs.utah.gov/usor/dhh/.
