It was first noticed that I had a hearing loss when I was 4 years old, but it wasn’t until twenty-six years later I went completely deaf for undiagnosed reasons. My name is Lee and I am hearing-impaired.

I was deaf for a total of ten years and for me being deaf was a traumatic and frustrating experience. From that time, I began my journey to hear again. For a while I could speak and lip-read, no one really thought I was deaf, in fact I was often told I wasn’t deaf.

It became so repetitive having to explain to others why it was that I could speak but not hear. Asking people to slow down their speech so that I could lip-read was met with a lot of disbelief and frustration, resulting in them not bothering to communicate with me.

I was often asked if I knew sign language and why I had not learnt sign language, as it was assumed that it would’ve made communication easier. All my family was hearing and there were not many interpreters in those days, so I decided not to learn sign language. Even though it was frustrating having to explain myself continuously, I felt it was important that I maintain my speech in the fullest sense.

When I found out about the cochlear implant I felt that this was the answer for me. Even though the surgery would not restore hearing, I felt the implant would give me a powerful tool with communication. It wasn’t until I had the 7th cochlear implant in 2005 and the last implant in May 2008, that I came out of a world of isolation and silence and began to enjoy life.

Being able to hear and understand speech without lip-reading was something that I never thought would happen. The implant gave me the confidence to go forward, improved the quality of my life in ways I thought I would never experience again. The independence that came with having a cochlear implant was the icing on the cake.

I decided that I would spread the word about the benefits of the cochlear implant talking to people about hearing access for the hard of hearing, so I joined a local cochlear implant association and later became the Secretary. It is an Association I can’t speak more highly of, as it has provided me with unwavering support over the years from 1989 to this day.

Contact with people who choose to have an implant, gives me great joy. It is so rewarding to see the full benefits they can gain and to watch their confidence grow. Mostly, I enjoy learning about how people light-up through their new found hearing and are able to go out into the world with a new perspective. None of this would have been possible without my cochlear implants.