Ivy helped me hear
Chris Blackham-Davison was born deaf in his left ear and not too much in his right one. No one else in his family was deaf so this was unexpected. He was raised to speak and achieved much throughout his life. However, when he reached 40 he decided to have a Cochlear Implant. This is his story.
email: happybuddha68@gmail.com
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I have now been given the greatest gift of all - "The Gift of Hearing" and I would love to share with you my journey through life of living with a profound hearing loss and how receiving my Cochlear Implant has allowed me to experience a whole new world of sound.
None of my family members were born deaf or hearing impaired, however my grandmother, great uncle and uncle all experienced hearing loss later in life. So when I was born with no hearing at all in my left ear it wasn't something anyone expected.
During my early childhood and throughout my life I wore a hearing aid in my right ear which allowed me to hear sounds. I was brought up to communicate orally so in my early years I did not learn sign language. I relied on listening with my hearing aid in one ear, and with patience, determination and good lip-reading skills, I successfully progressed through school and onto University where I became a Teacher of the Deaf.
I graduated from Griffith University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Teaching (Special Education - Hearing Impairment) and I am currently employed as a teacher by the Northern Territory Department of Education and Training.
A very special part of my life was when I received my Lions Hearing Dog, Ivy. Since Ivy came into my life she has given me so much assistance and support in her role as a hearing dog.
She alerts me to important sounds such as smoke alarms, someone knocking at the door, the telephone ringing, or a kettle whistling, to just name a few. Ivy has been my best companion for many years because she has provided me with so much support with my hearing and now with my implant as well.
As a hearing impaired person, I had always found it difficult at work as well as in my social life and therefore decided to explore having a cochlear implant. I was by now 40 when I embarked on having a Cochlear Implant in my 'deaf since birth' left ear.
I live in the Northern Territory and there is no implant clinic in my area. So on 20th November 2009 I travelled to Sydney's Mater Hospital where I was implanted by Professor Bill Gibson. This was the start of a new phase in my life and I could not wait for my switch on.
My 'Switch-On' was on the 6th January 2010 and since then I have been exploring sounds I have never thought was possible. While I am still a long way from being able to hear like a "normal" hearing person, I feel I am starting to get some real benefits.
I would like to thank my friends, my audiologists, doctors, SCIC, NT Hearing, and Cochlear for helping me through this wonderful journey. Certainly as I improve my hearing, it should improve every aspect of my life.
I would be more than happy to speak to anyone or any organisation wanting to learn more about my story or about Cochlear Implants.