His mother had hoped to know right away if Jorden could hear once the device was turned on. His twin brother Jaden is not hearing impaired.

"It's going to be a slow process," Johnny Flowers, the twins' father, told The Associated Press by phone from Italy shortly after the device was activated. "What we were expecting was for them to flip the switch and have Jorden respond immediately. And we know now it doesn't work that way. But we're very hopeful."

Vonetta Flowers, an Alabama native who was a standout athlete at UAB, became the first black athlete to earn a medal at an Olympic Winter Games when she and driver Jill Bakken won in Salt Lake City in 2002. She will compete in the Turin Games next month with driver Jean Prahm.

Jorden was born Aug. 30, 2002, two minutes after Jaden. They were three months premature and both were hospitalized for several weeks after their birth.

The nerve that connects Jorden's ears to the hearing part of his brain didn't develop fully, causing his deafness. He had an auditory brain stem implant - which is not approved for children in the U.S. - on Dec. 20 in Italy. Electrodes were implanted in the hearing area of his brain.

Dr. Vittorio Colletti told the family that in terms of hearing, Jorden was born Monday. Like with a newborn, it may take several months to determine if the child can hear.

"It's tough for us with a 3-year-old to understand that, but we're not discouraged," Johnny Flowers said. "They're telling us other families experience the same thing, and it's just going to take a while for his brain to realize that sound is coming in. It's a different feeling than what we expected."

Flowers and Prahm are the fifth-ranked team in this season's women's World Cup standings. They are coming off a fifth-place finish last weekend in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

By Tim Reynolds
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060123/APS/601230757

Followup: http://www.4hearingloss.com/archives/2006/01/olympian_braces.html