We’ve loved having Tash Shallita, a Senior Listening and Spoken Language Specialist from The Shepherd Centre in Australia, working with our team over the past few months! 🎉⁠ Tash brings extensive experience in paediatric cochlear implantation and has been supporting our early intervention services while also providing valuable onsite training.⁠ ⁠Her time with us so far has been a fantastic opportunity to learn from another First Voice Centre and strengthen connections for future...

When Louis Smith was born four months ago, his parents, Nicole and Josh, were filled with all the joy and wonder that comes with meeting your first child. What they didn’t expect, however, was that their first experience of parenthood would also become their first encounter with hearing differences. Louis’ hearing journey began early. In his first week, the Newborn Hearing Screening Programme at Auckland Hospital suggested he might not be hearing typical sound levels. Further testing at six...

Seventy-eight-year-old Paul (Lyn) Thomson received his cochlear implant last November, but he wasn’t happy at first. “I got my cochlear implant, but at first I didn’t want it,” says Tirau-based Lyn. “I didn’t want it and I wanted to take it out until I came to The Hearing House and met the whānau support counsellor, Hazel. “She was amazing – she helped me hugely. That was a real turning point for me.” Lyn, who’s a keen dancer, says his hearing first started to deteriorate around 20 years ago....