North Shore Times (New Zealand)
Cochlear implant helps deaf youngster
Danni Steedman has two-anda-half years of listening to catch up on.
The youngster, who has hearing loss in both ears, received a cochlear implant in her left ear in June.
Danni, 2, lives with her parents and two older brothers in Glenfield and is learning how to hear and speak thanks to the surgically implanted device.
Dad Kris Steedman says watching her react after the device was switched on was a bit of a tear-jerker.
‘‘Before, she wouldn’t respond much and now she knows where the music is coming from, rather than just looking around,’’ Kris says.
Danni was born premature and spent the first four months of her life in hospital, resulting in a chronic lung disease, kidney problems and auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder.
She is moderately to severely deaf in her right ear, and severely deaf in her left, and she started wearing hearing aids last year.
She received a cochlear implant through The Hearing House in Greenlane, a charity which works with children with hearing loss.
‘‘We’ve been through so much with her. When she was threeand-a-half months old, we were
‘‘After what she's been through, we just want the best we can for her.’’ Karen Steedman
getting told she was going to die,’’ Karen says.
‘‘With her hearing loss, it hasn’t really fazed us … after what she’s been through, we just want the best we can for her.’’
She now has regular auditory and verbal therapy at The Hearing House to help learn how to communicate and get her ready for primary school.
There is also a possibility she will get a second cochlear implant, in the future, if the first one works well.
Kris and Karen say the implant has boosted Danni’s confidence.
‘‘She’s so determined and always know what she wants. She doesn’t let things hold her back,’’ Karen says.
The Ministry of Health funds two cochlear implants for children under 19 with profound hearing loss and one device for adults with profound hearing loss in both ears.
Friday, September 23 is Loud Shirt Day, an annual appeal for Hearing House and the Southern Cochlear Implant Paediatric Programme.
Participants are encouraged to dress in bright, funky shirts for the day to raise money and awareness for the charities.
❚ Go to loudshirtday.org.nz for more information and to donate to the causes.