I was about 12 months old when my parents first discovered I was deaf in both ears. Unlike other children that age, I wasn’t responding to sounds, I wasn’t turning around if they spoke to me and I didn’t make the usual baby noises you expect at that stage, having nothing to model my speech on.
After various tests and consultations with audiologists in Oxford – some hours away from my hometown of Thirsk – they received the diagnosis and learned what options were available to me. Hearing aids were out of the question, because they amplify sounds rather than actually allow you to hear, and so I underwent cochlear implant surgery.
