Yana and Josh are the proud parents of four happy and energetic kids, three of whom were born with hearing loss.
Yana and Josh know of no other instances of hearing loss in their family history, so they were very surprised when their oldest child Emily failed the newborn screening test – twice.
Working with Hearing Australia
The family were immediately referred to the Deafness Centre, and then later to Hearing Australia. After some further testing, Emily was fitted with hearing aids at eight weeks. Soon after, Jayden was born and officially diagnosed with hearing loss at only one week old.
Hearing Australia got the ball rolling pretty quickly. The Deafness Centre still couldn't confirm for us that the kids’ hearing loss was genetic but they said if it happens more than once it very likely is, said Yana.
Maddison came along two years later, and Yana and Josh, this time having readjusted to a life with hard-of-hearing kids, took their younger daughter’s diagnosis in stride.
“Life is busy and it’s also all we know. I don’t even know how I’d compare with what a so-called normal life would be like,” Yana says.
She also credits her tight support group, which includes the same audiologists she has been seeing at Hearing Australia from the beginning, Kristy and Sarah, for helping the couple gain a proper foothold on the kids’ hearing loss.
“It was very overwhelming when we first found out mostly, because we didn’t understand it. But the more you understand your child and the hearing loss, the easier it becomes. Lately we’ve also been talking to them about everything they do because we know it’s good for their language development.”
The solution
Emily is now happily settled in a mainstream school, with her teacher recently telling Yana how pleased she is with Emily’s progress.
“The kids know they wear hearing aids but they also understand that their hearing aids help them. It also probably helps that the three of them are in it together."
