"I couldn't hear my teachers clearly at school"
Hayden was born with multigenerational hearing loss, with his mum, Jody and grandfather Leslie also born with hearing loss. He was diagnosed with deafness at four years old, and although wearing hearing aids, Hayden still struggled with his limited hearing throughout his childhood, particularly at school.
I couldn’t hear my teachers clearly at school.
At ten years old, Hayden was implanted with his cochlear implant. His mum Jody had noticed that his hearing had declined, and he wasn’t hearing as much at school; she didn’t want him to have those struggles. Jody knew that her son was an intelligent kid and more than capable of learning. He just needed to hear what was being said in the classroom.
A mother’s intuition combined with her own experience of hearing loss and being a cochlear implant recipient herself, Jody knew the signs to look out for and that a cochlear implant would help Hayden with the clarity of sound he needed.
In 2014 Hayden had his cochlear implant on the right ear, still using a hearing aid for the left ear. Initially, it took a while for him to adapt, “He didn’t like it in the beginning. It was a real struggle to get him to wear it because he liked the natural sound of his hearing aid”, says mum Jody. Hayden worked very hard in both his rehabilitation and school, learning to interpret the new sounds through his life-changing cochlear implant.
After my cochlear implant I was able to learn more and now I’m studying at uni.
Today, at seventeen, Hayden loves his Cochlear Implant, and his right ear is his preferred ear. Hearing with clarity, he has progressed through school, recently graduating year 12 and attending university, something his mum believes “wouldn’t be possible without his cochlear implant”. Hayden hopes to work with cochlear implants in the future using his first-hand experience and university learnings to be involved in the software development of these life-changing devices.
Your hearing won’t heal itself, but we can help.
Could a cochlear implant be right for you?
Hearing aids help many people, but as your hearing loss progresses a hearing implant may give you the clarity and volume you need to understand speech again.
Hearing implants are life-changing devices that can help you hear sounds you no longer hear with your hearing aids, restoring your confidence and connecting you to loved ones.
Ear Science Implant Clinic is proudly Western Australia’s largest private hearing implant program.
Translating the latest research into surgical and clinical care with a comprehensive medical team including Ear Surgeons, qualified Hearing Implant Audiologists, and other specialists all dedicated to restoring your confidence, with appointments and surgery times to suit you.
Trust your hearing to the experts. Contact us and speak to people who have hearing implants.
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