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Maria's Story
Told by her mother, Anastasia
Maria Zoe was born on December 6, 2000. Maria spent her first days of life in intensive care due to complications at birth. A routine hearing test when Maria was 9 days old showed there was cause for concern. At 6 weeks of age, another test confirmed that she was profoundly deaf.
My husband Mark and I were devastated. Our baby couldn't hear our voices or anything else for that matter. We worried about how she would fit in and communicate with the hearing world. She was only 6 weeks old and we were worried about where she would go to school, whether she would have a job and if she would ever marry.
Fortunately, when Maria was 8 weeks old we were directed to the Hear and Say Centre. The Clinical Director, Dimity, told us that Maria had the opportunity to learn to listen and speak. We were relieved - suddenly there was hope.
Maria started Auditory-Verbal Therapy and was fitted with her hearing aids at 3 months of age. Hearing aids gave Maria access to some residual hearing in her right ear and within a few months, Maria started to listen and turn to her name. I remember feeling relieved and excited that Maria could hear - even if it was just a little bit.
Maria was evaluated to determine whether she was a candidate for a cochlear implant. When she was 12 months old, a team meeting was held and it was decided that she would benefit from a cochlear implant. My husband and I made the final decision to go ahead with an implant because although Maria was now understanding, listening and making some learning to listen sounds, her hearing aids were not providing her with adequate sound. We wanted her to be able to listen and speak clearly and to attend a mainstream school.
On February 6, 2002, Maria was 'switched on' to our world of sound. This was a very exciting day. Watching Maria turn to sounds she'd never heard before was a very emotional experience. Since switch-on, Maria has continued to progress and has reached age appropriate milestones in listening, language, cognition and speaking. At the time of writing, Maria is 2 years old and amazing us with her use of language. She has started to join 3 and 4 words together and understands many directions. Nothing compares to the excitement we share when she says new words or a new phrase or when she breaks out in song! Maria's future is now looking ever so bright.
Our life has been very different to what we ever imagined and the last 2 years have been full of many different emotions as we slowly come to terms with Maria's deafness. However, we are very fortunate that Maria's deafness was diagnosed early as this has given her the opportunity to develop her listening and speaking skills to an age appropriate level in a relatively short time. I hope that infant hearing screening becomes compulsory in Queensland so that all children who are born deaf in the future can have the opportunity to achieve their full potential in the speaking world.
Thank you to Dimity and all the staff at the Hear and Say Centre who have helped our little girl learn to listen and speak and have made our dreams come true.
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Maria is 2 years old and has started to join 3 and 4 words together and understands
many directions.
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Jessika-Lee's Story
Told by her mother, Jodi
When our daughter Jessika-Lee was born in 1997, we looked at her and knew she was perfect. Ten fingers, ten toes. Little did we suspect that Jessika had a hearing loss. Jessika was about eight months old when we started to suspect that there was a problem with her hearing. We were living in a house with wooden floorboards at the time and Jessika was crawling about as any eight month old does.
However, Jessika never responded to her name when we called her. She would only respond when we stamped our feet on the floor. We now know that she felt the vibrations, and then responded.
Jessika's hearing was tested and she was found to be profoundly deaf. We were absolutely devastated. No one in our families had hearing problems. It was the last thing we expected. We didn't know where to go or what to do. So we did the most logical thing to us and started to learn sign language.
Soon after we were told of the Hear and Say Centre and we found out that we had some choices as to how Jessika could learn and communicate.
Jessika was implanted in 1999, aged 19 months. She was 'switched-on' at the Hear and Say Centre and hasn't looked back since. Since this time Jessika's hearing and speech has continually improved - amazing those around her. She doesn't understand the notion of being deaf or being different. Jessika understands that to communicate the way she wants to, she has to listen and speak. The Hear and Say centre gave us the tools to do exactly that.
Thanks to the hard work of the dedicated team at the Hear and Say Centre, this year Jessika has embarked on her next adventure - grade one at a mainstream school, and she is loving it!
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Jessika was implanted in 1999, aged 19 months. She was 'switched-on' at the Hear and Say Centre and hasn't looked back since.
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Sam's Story
Told by his mother, Kerrie
Samuel was diagnosed at the age of two and a half with a severe-profound hearing loss. We live in Cairns and at that time there were very few services available for deaf children. We sought out the options available in Brisbane and discovered the Hear and Say Centre. The first thing that struck us was how welcoming everybody was, how we were made to feel a part of a family of people who understood us and who gave us hope for the future of our deaf son.
Samuel participated in the centre's Auditory-Verbal Program but it soon became evident that he was not going to develop speech and language with hearing aids. So we pursued the option of a cochlear implant. Samuel was implanted just before his third birthday, which is considered these days to be quite late for implantation.
As there was no Hear and Say Centre in North Queensland at the time, we participated in the Centre’s Outreach Program. This was challenging, but the support from the Clinical Director, Dimity, and the staff was fabulous. Samuel loved his lessons and, although time consuming, I loved the time I spent with Sam, working with him so closely, knowing that all the hard work I was putting in every day was bringing him closer to being the hearing/speaking child we dreamed he could be.
Now six, Sam is in Year 2 in a mainstream school. The Hear and Say Centre’s Auditory-Verbal Program is so comprehensive and prepared him so well for school that Sam by-passed preschool and went straight to Year 1. He has age appropriate speech and language. There are parents of children in his class who still are not aware that he is deaf.
Research is showing that Auditory-Verbal children are proving to be age appropriate or above in reading. Samuel certainly substantiates this claim. At six his reading age is nine and a half. I’m a teacher and he even amazes me!!
Samuel has the most beautiful, most normal speaking voice and is indistinguishable from his hearing peers. He has by far surpassed any expectations I would have had of him if he were born fully hearing. Would I give him hearing ears tomorrow if I could? – absolutely! Nothing will change the sadness I feel that he wasn't born quite right. But now I'm not looking for words to express my grief, I'm looking for the words to express my absolute pride in what a little deaf boy has been able to achieve in such a short time. The Hear and Say Centre has once again given me the belief that Samuel will fulfil the hopes and dreams I had for him when he was born, and for that I will be eternally grateful!!
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Research is showing that Auditory-Verbal children are proving to be age appropriate or above in reading. Samuel certainly substantiates this claim. At six his reading age is nine and a half.
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Natasha's Story
Told by her mother Stella
How I felt on diagnosis
Shocked and distraught initially but then got on with the job at hand. Looking back I see I didn't grieve the loss of the 'perfect baby' until possibly years later and that grieving process never completely ends. Above all I was just so grateful she didn't have a terminal illness.
How I heard about the Centre
One week after the initial diagnosis of a profound hearing loss delivered by a local Ear, Nose and Throat specialist, I had a two-hour meeting with an audiologist at Australian Hearing. I was informed of the various choices of treatment for Natasha. Auditory-Verbal Therapy was described and the Hear and Say Centre was one of two Centres available in Brisbane. I was given a pamphlet on the Centre and made inquiries shortly after.
How the Centre has helped the family
- The Auditory-Verbal Therapy taught to Natasha and myself has given me the
life-long skills to assist Natasha in her everlasting need for comprehensive
speech and language.
- Support through the maze of other services such as doctors, hearing tests, equipment and how to use it.
- Parental emotional support.
- The opportunity to mix with other parents of children who are hearing impaired.
- Natasha is now in grade 3 (in 2003) and the Centre continues to provide all Natasha's MAPping and assessment sessions with no out of pocket expenses to us.
Her achievements
- She has succeeded in staying with her peers through preschool and now the early years of primary school – although it has been a lot of work for her and myself
- She loves swimming and participates in lessons 2-3 times per week. She loves to compete and win at swimming club. Beating her peers at sprinting is another favourite of Natasha's.
- Socially, she is well accepted and is very popular at school. She has some special friends and makes friends easily.
- She has a natural sounding voice. Her giggle, laughter and singing astound me with their spontaneity and naturalness.
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Natasha loves swimming and participates in lessons 2–3 times per week. She loves to compete and win at swimming club.
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James' Story
Told by his mother, Mary
The parenting roller coaster for us started with the discovery that we had been talking to a profoundly deaf child for six months. The grief we felt at the point of diagnosis was intense and with advice from our Ear, Nose and Throat specialist, we looked to all the organisations that were available at the time for support.
We soon sorted out the facts all the organisations gave us and made a decision based on what really was best for our fourteen month old baby, James, and for the family. We chose the Hear and Say Centre with its Auditory-Verbal Therapy because we were firstly impressed with the nurturing way we were embraced by the staff and most importantly, we could see the therapy really worked. The professionalism of the staff and results of the therapy, played an important part in our decision making process.
The Hear and Say Centre not only helped us get through that initial grieving time, we were exposed to an enormous collection of teaching materials and information needed to teach James how to 'Hear and Say'! In addition to regular lessons, the program also gave us easy access to other parents with similar circumstances. From diagnosis to school age, we have seen James start with hearing aids and two years later receive a Nucleus 22 cochlear implant. The habilitation program along with regular MAPping sessions, was provided for us free of charge. We are grateful that we did not have financial pressures involved with James' therapy at the Hear and Say Centre, and we were free to get down to the business of teaching.
At eleven years of age, James speaks beautifully and is fully integrated into a regular school. James' year five report card and formal tests indicate he is achieving very well academically, and should continue to do so with the support from his school and home. We have been very impressed with the wonderful way our school system supports James, and we can only praise the way James has developed within such a loving and warm environment.
When James won the 8 years Beginner's title at the Queensland Premierships in November 2000, we realized that James' passion for Irish Dancing was a gift. He proved that deaf children can dance! There are no barriers, no boundaries, and no limits to the enjoyment and personal achievements one can have. James now trains 17 hours per week and competes in the Open level both at a State and National level. He competes both in solo events and in team events, and is happy to participate in community events such as the Brisbane Riverfestival, local fetes, and nursing home performances. This year he is competing in the Australian National Irish Dancing Championships in Perth, where he hopes to try out some more advanced Open steps.
James' extra curricula achievements include swimming squad, piano lessons, and computer games. He is looking forward to year six this year and has a positive outlook to his life, his school, and amazingly - he talks openly about his deafness.
Our family would like to thank all the staff and parents at the Hear and Say Centre for their role in helping James. James has overcome many technical difficulties, including explantation/reimplantion two years ago. During smooth transitions, and during moments of intense frustration, James has found stability in the constant support from the Hear and Say Centre, and the school and dance communities. We owe James' success story to the dedication and support from everyone involved, and also to James.
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James with his Irish Dancing partner.
He now trains 17 hours per week and competes in the Open level both at a State and National level. He competes both in solo events and in team events, and is happy to participate in community events such as the Brisbane Riverfestival, local fetes, and nursing home performances.
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Maddi's Story
Told by her mother, Damian
My daughter Maddi was born profoundly deaf and diagnosed at four months of age. She was fitted with hearing aids at five months and we began using sign language with her immediately.
My feelings back in those days were of frustration, sadness and despair. We were just a normal, young family who did not realise the concept of what was happening to us. I took comfort from my sister who also has a hearing impaired child and our families.
When Maddi was 18 months old, we decided to look at the possibility of a cochlear implant. This was our first encounter with the Hear and Say Centre. Since that day, we have been led by the hand through each stage of her development. Yes, Maddi's success is mostly due to her home environment and caring family, but a family needs guidance, understanding and resources which is what was offered in abundance by Dimity and her staff at the Centre. We were shown how to maximise the potential of the cochlear implant through Auditory-Verbal Therapy and now our daughter can hear with her device and she can speak - just like you and I. It really is amazing.
I guess Maddi's story is slightly different to others in that Maddi has an identical twin sister - Sian, who is hearing. We have watched Maddi's speech and language skills develop almost along the same lines at Sian's. We have another daughter 21⁄2 years older named Sophie.
She is now eleven and attends the same school as her sisters. She contributes in the classroom like any other child. She has many friends that she chats to on the phone regularly. She has just begun to learn the clarinet. She has delivered a speech to a room full of professionals and been understood easily. She has even made an advertisement for television.
Everyday, we are in awe of her achievements and they still keep coming.
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Twin sisters, Sian and Maddi.
Maddi is now eleven and attends the same school as her sisters. She contributes in the classroom like any other child. She has many friends that she chats to on the phone regularly.
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