Local 5-year-old’s joy in finding Barbie with hearing aids like hers goes viral

OXFORD, Mass. — A 5-year-old Oxford girl’s joy in finding a Barbie with hearing aids like her has captured the hearts of countless viewers in a viral video posted by her mom.

Emma Scenna was perusing the aisles of Walmart in Leicester last week with her mom Lia when she discovered the doll on the bottom rack of the clearance section.

Emma had previously owned a similar Barbie but lost the hearing aids. This was the first she’d ever seen in a store.

Emma excitedly announced her special find to her mom, jumping up and down while clutching the Barbie.

“Hearing aids!” Emma says in the video. “Those ones all have earrings, but this one has hearing aids!”

Emma’s excitement was emotional for her mom Lia Scenna, who has shared their journey with hearing loss online to help other families.

“I think it’s just been so special to be able to see a similarity in someone else,” Lia said of her daughter’s reaction. “I don’t think that she sees many people around, or kids at that, with hearing aids. And so to be able to see it in something that she plays with, I think, was so special.”

Lia’s video took off online, quickly racking up views across the world.

“I was blown away,” Lia said. “I posted it, and… I looked, like, an hour later, and… my husband’s like, ‘Did you see what just happened?‘“

While the Scennas are overjoyed Emma’s reaction has touched so many people, they also hope it has a greater impact.

“My main thing in posting it at all is just to raise awareness to childhood hearing loss,” Lia said. “I would hope that like a mom maybe going through the same thing would be able to see it, and early intervention is key to speech and being able to be treated early.”

The strong and sparkly rising kindergartener who loves to accessorize wears her hearing aids proudly - they’re a part of everyday life.

But there’s nothing ordinary about twinning with her favorite toy.

“Oh. yeah,” Lia said. “I don’t think you can really explain it.”

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