Eleven-year-old Jack Coombs is a “speed tornado.”

Cochlear implants provide children and adults who are hard of hearing with access to sound, but receiving an implant isn’t simply about hearing.

In his mother’s words, 11-year-old Jack Coombs is a “speed tornado.”

“He’s a very busy boy,” Kirstin Johnson-Coombs says.

“He’s got personality-plus and so much energy – implants have opened up a whole new world for him.”

Jack, who has been diagnosed with ADHD, had his first cochlear implant operation just before his second birthday, and his second at two and a half.  

Although it was a tough and stressful time, it wasn’t a new experience for the Tauranga-based family. Older brother Reid Johnson also has cochlear implants and mum Kirstin experienced mild hearing loss 20 years ago, which she manages with hearing aids.

Eighteen-year-old Reid is working casually at TenPin Tauranga and is on the hunt for a full-time job.  He bought his first car last year, which he slept in for 12 days during a family camping trip in January.

Both boys were born with Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct (EVA) syndrome and Kirstin says cochlear implants have changed their lives.  

EVA is caused by a malformation in the inner ear. It can cause hearing loss and can also affect balance.

“Jack’s first implant was a success,” Kirstin says, “but as a family we had some trepidation around the insertion of the second one.  We knew there was a risk it might not work, but Jack hasn’t shut up since!”  

The Hearing House has been a key part of the family’s support network over the past 10+ years, and Kirstin says a huge bonus is being able to see The Hearing Houses’s outreach clinicians in Tauranga or Whakatane, rather than having to make the six-monthly journey to Auckland and back.

“The Hearing House has been phenomenal,” she says. “It’s been quite a journey, but we couldn’t have done it without them. Their therapists totally get Jack – they know he’s a bundle of energy, and just know how to handle him. That takes a huge load off me.”

The programmes and services offered by SCIP and The Hearing House include assessment, cochlear implant surgery, listening and spoken language therapy, audiology, and outreach programmes for regional and remote patients. Both organisations are also committed to clinical research and professional development.

Surgery and the subsequent switch-on are only one part of the cochlear implant process. Patients need to learn how to use the technology and interpret the new sounds through ongoing audiology and speech and language therapy. 

Kirstin has been active with helping run a family support group for those affected by hearing loss, which she established when Jack was first diagnosed.

"I wish we'd had a group like that for support when Reid was first diagnosed," she says.  

"We’ve helped a lot of families since starting the group, and we’ve developed many friendships from the group as well.

“Reid and Jack are both happy and well-adjusted boys with a very supportive and loving family, but we’ll see where life takes the both of them,” says Kirstin. 

“They’re very much their own people – special and unique.”

Six-year-old Te Waiwaha Prangnell is a bright and bubbly girl who loves dancing

Cochlear implants provide children and adults who are hard of hearing with access to sound, but receiving an implant isn’t simply about hearing.

Six-year-old Te Waiwaha Prangnell is a bright and bubbly girl who loves dancing, listening to Savage Love by Jason Derulo and reading with her mum. She also has cochlear implants after failing her newborn hearing screen when she was just a few weeks old.

The diagnosis of Te Waiwaha’s profound deafness came as a real shock to her parents Te Ao and Ben, who hadn’t experienced hearing loss before.

“I felt a real sense of loss for our whānau – I guess I was in mourning,” says Te Ao (Ngati Pikiao), who’s head of dance at Western Heights High School in Rotorua.

“But I’m a glass half-full kind of person, and I knew there would be a journey ahead where she would be loved and supported,” she says.

“I also wanted to preserve her deafness as part of her culture, and encourage acceptance and normalisation at every step,” she says.

Te Waiwaha started at Kids.com daycare in Rotorua when she was three months old, and at the same time started learning sign language through the local First Signs programme. She followed her older sisters Arahinga and Rangitapu into the Rūmaki Reo unit at Rotorua Primary School last year and is now trilingual, swapping between her languages with ease.

As a full-time teacher, Te Ao tries to incorporate as many opportunities into Te Waiwaha’s daily life as she can, while at the same time making sure that it fits in with the demands of busy family life. All the girls are keen performers, regularly taking part in dance and drama productions.

“I’m already beginning to see the fruits of our labour,” says Te Ao. “Te Waiwaha is a real little social butterfly. She knows she’s deaf, but also that her ‘ears’ – her cochlear implants -- are part of her body and just as loved as every other part of her.”

Te Ao has also encouraged independence and self-responsibility. It’s Te Waiwaha’s job to put her implants (or sound processors) on every day, and then back on the special charging station set up in her room every night.

The whānau are appreciative of the help she has received from The Hearing House.

The programmes and services offered by SCIP and The Hearing House include assessment, cochlear implant surgery, listening and spoken language therapy, audiology, and outreach programmes for regional and remote patients. Both organisations are also committed to clinical research and professional development.

Surgery and the subsequent switch-on is only one part of the cochlear implant process. Patients need to learn how to use the technology and interpret the new sounds through ongoing audiology and speech and language therapy.

Te Waiwaha received her cochlear implants when she was six months old, and the Prangnell whānau was supported by The Hearing House as Te Waiwaha learned to process the sound she received through her cochlear implants to communicate.

Te Ao describes Te Waiwaha’s switch-on as a “magical moment.”

“I fell in love with her more,” she says.

The Hearing House has remained a key part of the family’s support network since then, and for the past year, Rotorua-based speech and language therapist Renique Williams has assisted with regular therapy sessions and visits to monitor Te Waiwaha’s speech and language development.

“Communication is a huge part of our journey,” says Te Ao. “It’s important that we communicate on a level that works for everyone – sometimes that’s sign, other times it’s reo.”

Te Waiwaha has thrived at school and was awarded a prize for her mahi last year. She’ll start this year as a proud Year 1 student.

Te Waiwaha’s class has launched a sponsorship page for Loud Shirt Day 2023.

Rocking his CI - Richard’s story

Four years ago, the course of Richard Green's life took a dramatic turn when he was struck by a car while crossing Auckland’s College Hill at 11 o'clock one Wednesday morning after a meeting.

The accident left him with multiple injuries, and as he lay in hospital, he noticed something was wrong with his hearing. “It felt weird," he recounted to the trauma surgeon at the time.

Tragically, he would later learn that the impact of the accident had caused him to lose all hearing in his left ear. Over the following six months, Richard explored various options to help improve his ability to hear.

Hearing aids seemed like a logical choice, but they fell short, especially in the context of his work in the creative and events industries, where multi-tasking in noisy, busy environments is crucial.

Richard is at the helm of the arts organisation He Waka Eke Noa Charitable Trust, where he orchestrates a vibrant array of events and festivals, spearheads the nationally renowned Ugly Shakespeare Company, and oversees Kete Aronui, a dynamic creative space in Onehunga. Now they have opened their theatre space too, The Factory Theatre, which again requires multiple demands on his hearing at one time.

He found himself getting demoralised - and exhausted - by his lack of hearing. Work became a struggle.

Last year, his audiologist encouraged him to try a cochlear implant. As Richard researched what was involved with the implant technology and rehabilitation, he was surprised by the information and recommendations about cochlear implants that he read in articles and on websites. Suggestions included keeping the processor under a scarf, hat or long hair to keep it hidden. This ran contrary with Richard's vibrant and confident style, characterised by a mohawk, piercings, and colourful clothing. He made the conscious decision that he wasn’t going to let an implant change his style. Six months later, Richard had the surgery to have a cochlear implant fitted on his left side.

Supported by The Hearing House, Richard says he’s learning to process sound while at the same time managing his energy levels.

“It's quite challenging," Richard admits. "It's something you've got to learn to live with, but the support I've had from The Hearing House has been incredible."

The organisation offered insights into rehabilitation, fostered a sense of community through its networking outreach and ensured he was supported every step of the way. Amidst the challenges of adapting to a new experience of hearing, Richard found solace in his love for music. He discovered that with his new cochlear implant, he could once again relish the crystal-clear melodies of his cherished vinyl collection. With his trademark self-expression, Richard has seamlessly woven his cochlear implant into his distinctive style. His collection of colourful kilts is co-ordinated with a range of differently coloured implant sleeves. Ever the creative visionary, Richard has bigger plans on the horizon. He envisions 3-D printing and designing a series of personalised vinyl sheets to adorn the sleeves of fellow cochlear implant wearers, adding a unique flair to each user’s experience. At a recent event, someone stopped him to admire his "pimped-up CI," declaring it the coolest they had ever seen.

Richard's response to praise such as this is simple but profound: "I can still be my own person with a cochlear implant, and I treasure that."