CLIENT STORIES: Written Stories
Our vision at The Hearing House is to foster a sense of community where everyone is welcome.
People are at the heart of everything we do and we co-design our services with kiritaki and whānau
to ensure we understand and meet their needs.
Here are stories of our kiritaki whose lives we've been privileged to help change.
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Ray, Jenny and Janet's story
Ray, Jenny, and Janet’s grandmother, Avis, was born deaf in the early 1900s. Without access to hearing aids at the time, she developed strong lip-reading skills to communicate with those around her.
Avis had five children, all of whom were also deaf. Growing up in both Deaf and hearing spaces, they remember feeling included and accepted, with no sense of being treated differently. The only extra effort was encouraging people to face them when speaking so they could read lips — a skill their mother had mastered and passed down.
Lucia's story
At just 11 months old, Lucia has already been on an extraordinary journey. She lives in Birkenhead, Auckland, with her mum Chelsea, dad Michael, and big sister Daisy, who is four years old. The rest of the family are hearing, but Lucia was born profoundly deaf.
Lucia’s hearing difference was first identified through the newborn hearing screening programme when she was just two days old. Both ears did not meet the typical hearing threshold, and she was referred to an audiologist at Greenlane Hospital for an Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test. By the time the appointment came around, she was six weeks old.
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Ashe and Jett's story
Identical six-year-old twins Ashe and Jett, who live in Tairua on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, received their cochlear implants in June 2024, after having been identified as being deaf since birth.
The boys were implanted on consecutive days by Auckland-based ENT surgeon Colin Brown, who mum Danielle says, “was awesome to work with.”
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Hazel's story
At 84 years old, Hazel Wood had been living with hearing difficulties for many years.
Audiologists had supported her throughout that time, adjusting her hearing aids as her hearing changed. She had always appreciated their care and expertise.
At her annual check-up in 2024, Hazel passed the standard hearing test. But when asked to face the wall and repeat sentences, she found it impossible.
Te Waiwaha's story
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.
Violet's story
Violet and Nathan Zheng are two of our kiritaki (clients) – they first came to us as young children when they’d just received their cochlear implants and are now both excelling at university and in their careers.
It’s stories like theirs that make us so committed to what we do – making a meaningful difference to the lives of our kiritaki. We’re so proud of you, Violet and Nathan!
Here's Violet's story:
Annette's story
Seventy-three-year-old retired nurse Annette Herbert had her cochlear implant fitted two years ago when tests showed that her hearing had deteriorated to a point that hearing aids were no longer effective.
The Auckland-based grandmother says being able to have phone conversations with her family has been life-changing, and she keeps busy with exercise class, gardening and watching her nine-year-old grand-daughter’s ballet class.
Richard's story
Richard Green’s life changed forever when he was hit by a car on Auckland’s College Hill four years ago.
After being rushed to hospital with multiple injuries, he told the trauma surgeon that his hearing seemed ‘weird’ and found out later that he had lost the hearing in his left ear.
“The journey back from my accident has been hard,” he says.
Karen's Story
Karen had her first cochlear implant when she was a young mum, and her second four years later.
She received an upgraded processor three years ago following an accident, and a further upgrade a few months ago.
She can now stream sound straight from her phone into her ears which has helped her rediscover her love of music.
Elijah's Story
When Elijah Ririnui was two years old, his grandmother Helene said he loved anything that vibrated.
Lawnmowers, vacuum cleaners, food mixers, power tools, washing machines – all provoked a spontaneous reaction of pure delight.
But they weren’t words or squeals of delight -- Elijah had barely made a sound since birth.
It wasn’t until the Ririnui whānau was out boating one day and a passing Jetski got the attention of everyone apart from Elijah, that Helene knew that something wasn’t right.
A visit to a specialist confirmed that Elijah was profoundly deaf, caused by congenital Cytomegalovirus (cCMV) contracted from his mother during pregnancy.