My Hearing Journey: In a Nutshell. https://youtu.be/SSIRiWvtHqY?t=303

Tēnā Koutou katoa!

My slide into deafness began at age 31 – gradually at first, just a word here and there. Nothing much to worry about, or so I thought. By age 36 I was told I had a progressive hearing loss and could go deaf altogether. And I did. Over 27 years I would experience the successive loss of my hearing as it progressed from mild to moderate to severe hearing loss to profound deafness. In 2019, just before my 58th Birthday and after much advocacy, I received a cochlear implant to my left ear. While my hearing is far from perfect, having some of it back and once again being in the flow of life is a miracle!

However, I shall never forget the experience and on some levels, I am still Deaf – without the processor on I hear nothing.

My story is not just about cure, it’s also about trying to live life to the fullest amidst feeling trapped by a world of silence and other people’s perceptions and attitudes. It is also about trying to live with hope during some of my most despairing times over the intervening years. My story is also about the gifts that the experience brought me as well as the wonderful people I met along the way.

I am slowly building this hearing journey page as well as writing a short book about my experience. I will always be an advocate of those who are differently- abled and these stories are also ones of advocacy. As a descendant of te iwi o Ngāi Te Rangi, my advocacy also encompasses the rights of Māori and other Indigenous peoples (who have exceedingly high rates of untreated deafness) to hear and speak the mother tongue of their ancestors – the Language of the Land.

It is my hope that in telling about my journey that it will be of strength and sustenance to those living through similar experiences or with other differences in ability.

Mauri ora!

The Consequences of Untreated Severe to Profound Hearing Loss (Journal Article)

The Big Switch On https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SSIRiWvtHqY&t=301s

Open letter for World Hearing Day (An Open Letter World Hearing Day)

Interview with the Pindrop Foundation. https://www.pindrop.org.nz/webinars/untreated-severe-to-profound-hearing-loss-and-the-cochlear-implant-situation-how-policy-and-practice-are-disabling-new-zealand-society/