“Through my pregnancy, I loved playing music and singing, and it was so sad to know that Riaan hadn’t heard me clearly then or even when he was a few weeks old,” Iushi said.
“But then, with all of the right information and understanding, we became very focused on getting the right hearing technology and therapies for him, so that it felt less overwhelming.
“You get a good support network, build resilience, and learn to cope and focus on the next step – then he’s just like any other baby, but with troubles hearing.”
Riaan was fitted with hearing aids at nine weeks old and was initially progressing well, coming into Hear and Say for support.
“This was an unexpected loss and meant he couldn’t get access to all the speech sounds with his hearing aids. We then progressed to cochlear implant work-up very rapidly, with lots of support from Hear and Say and our ENT specialist,” Neil said.
Riaan underwent cochlear implant surgery in September 2021 and had his implant switched on to sound for the first time at Hear and Say’s centre in Ashgrove one week later.
Riaan and his family are supported by Hear and Say through individualised speech therapy, audiology, Group Social Skills program – Listen Little Stars, and parent education webinars.
“They continue to help us use specialist speech therapy, known as Listening and Spoken Language therapy, to help develop his spoken language. We have a fantastic team of therapists and audiologists who have established a lovely rapport with Riaan,” Iushi said.
“He enjoys coming to the centre, playing with the toys and singing songs with everyone, including the reception staff!”
