14 years ago, a little boy named Drew was born. Drew had conductive hearing loss and needed to wear a Bone Anchored Hearing Aid (BAHA). His BAHA was held on by a softband headband. When he was a baby, the softband kept slipping off and was drawing attention to his lack of ears and to his BAHA. So Drew’s Mom and Grandma created a way to attach the BAHA to a hat.
Thanks to their innovation, Drew could now wear hats to keep his head warm in winter (he got his BAHA in October). Then when spring & summer came, he could wear baseball caps and visors to protect his blond head from the sun.
Almost every picture of Drew is in a hat. He even had permission to wear hats to school. When it came time to get the BAHA implanted (at age 6), his family fought the doctor to make sure his BAHA was implanted low enough that he can still wear a hat. Now, at age 14, there is not one day that he leaves the house without a hat.
Drew’s family called this attachment piece a “Block.” It was designed to be used a hats similar to a button in a button hole. Drew spelled backwards is “Werd.” It eventually became known as the “ForWerd Button Block.” The Button Block Connector was designed to provide hearing options for Drew and also for you!