I was diagnosed as deaf when I was 4 years old. It came as a massive shock to everyone; my family had no idea that I was deaf, after all - I was born hearing. Even to this day, we still have no idea why I became deaf.

My school were the first to notice something was up; I wasn't doing as well as the other children. They urged my parents to get a hearing test for me, so they did and the tests came back saying that I had a 'severe hearing loss'. Severe is bad. It's not as bad 'profound hearing loss' but it's still bad.

I was fitted with hearing aids and began attending a new school that could help me. I had a Learning Support Assistant for 3 lessons a day and a radio aid. I was quite a lonely child in primary school.

My hearing got worse

Over the years my hearing loss dropped dramatically; I now had profound hearing loss and so was fitted with stronger hearing aids. My hearing stopped dropping, but even with the new hearing aids I found that I couldn't even hear the birds anymore. That didn't bother me at first, but as I grew older I longed to hear them like everybody else could.

When I finished primary school my family chose a secondary school for me in Winchester. It's a really nice school and I made heaps more friends there than I did in primary school. Most people in the school are deaf aware so they understand deafness. Immediately I was much happier at this school.

During this time, we tried lots of different hearing aids but found that even the most powerful aids were not doing the best they could, so we applied for a cochlear implant.

A new hope?

A cochlear implant is a device that is designed to help children and adults with profound hearing loss hear so much more. A magnet needs to be put into your head with a small, soft wire pushed and coiled into your cochlear (the bit of you ear that makes you able to hear). The wire has electrodes in.

The outside part is like a big hearing aid and has another magnet which attaches to your head. I don't really understand, but somehow or other it's meant to be able to help you hear.

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Not Convinced

I was dead set against having the implant at first but I gradually came around to the idea. After about 3 months of testing and going into the centre, they said we could have one. I chose the device I wanted and waited for the date of my operation.

The Operation

We got the call in October. The operation was a week away and we were all very excited. The morning of the op was long as lots of people kept coming in to ask me medical questions. It was quite boring, but still I was excited.

At long last, it was time for the op. I drifted to sleep holding my mums hand and woke up 6 hours later. I couldn't hear anything at all in my right ear and I had to have 10 millimetres of morphine for the pain but all I cared about was that I got a pink bandage!! They gave me stickers to put on it too.

Success!

A month after the op, they switched the device on for me. At first all I could hear were beeps and it was really weird, but eventually my brain learnt to recognise the sounds... it was amazing! I could hear!

Nobody at school realised I had a cochlear implant apart from my friends. 4 months after I'd switched it on, I put my hair up which meant everybody could see the processor. Some people stared; others ask questions; but most accepted it and commented on the awesome colours of the outside processor bit. I was given lots of colours for that outside bit and I still love changing them.

Now I love my cochlear implant. It has made such a difference to me: I can hear even the highest pitched sounds... including birds! I don't have 'normal' hearing but I do have a least 80-70% hearing now and I couldn't be happier.

For more info on cochlear implants, check out the NIDCD site, and for more help, support and info on loss of hearing, visit the Royal National Institute for the Deaf.