Two cochlear implant users return to work at centre that gave them hearing back
Two professionals in the field of hearing impairment, who are cochlear implant users themselves, have been appointed to work at the South of England Cochlear Implant Centre (SOECIC), based at the University of Southampton.
Samantha Johnson, from Netley Abbey, is a hearing therapist who has had her Advanced Bionics cochlear implant since 2007 and Anna Lyford from Dibden Purlieu, a rehabilitationist, has also had her Med-El implant in 2007.
Julie Brinton, Joint Head of SOECIC, says: "It's been great to welcome Anna and Samantha to the team. Their personal experience will enhance the patient focussed care offered at the centre, as they have a unique personal understanding of what is like to have a cochlear implant and also the knowledge of the science and technology involved."
Both Samantha and Anna, who previously knew each other through a social group for parents with hearing loss, have said that having their implants has opened up many more work possibilities.
Samantha says: "Having an implant has opened up so many opportunities, which would not have been possible before, and enabled us to fulfil our potential in the work place."
Anna adds: "It is such a rewarding job and I can't believe that I'm here. When I first came I never thought I would get an implant, let alone end up working here."
Anna was born with hearing but her family has a history of hearing loss in adulthood (her mum has a cochlear implant). She started losing her hearing as a teenager and was profoundly deaf by 28. She tried to manage with hearing aids with little success. Following meeting a cochlear implant user, she asked her GP to refer her for a hearing assessment with SOECIC in 2007.
Samantha had a high frequency hearing loss which was picked up at the age of 10. This didn't deteriorate until she went to University, when she struggled with hearing. She went to an audiologist who found that her hearing had dropped drastically. She had her first hearing aid at 21 and fro that she developed an interest in audiology and working in the field as a career. As hearing deteriorated, she tried stronger and stronger hearing aids until she was 35. In 2006 she went to an audiologist who referred her to SOECIC.
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Notes for editors
1. The South of England Cochlear Implant Centre was established in 1990 to help severely to profoundly deaf adults and children. Since the programme began at this centre the surgeons have implanted over 680 devices and given over 560 people the sensation of sound. The Centre is currently supporting over 540 adults and children with cochlear implants and over 80 of these are using two implants.
The Centre is located within the University of Southampton’s Institute of Sound and Vibration Research. Centre staff frequently presents papers at national and international meetings, and work is published in peer-reviewed journals. ISVR was awarded a 2006 Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education.
2. The University of Southampton is a leading UK teaching and research institution with a global reputation for leading-edge research and scholarship across a wide range of subjects in engineering, science, social sciences, health and humanities.
With over 23,000 students, around 5000 staff, and an annual turnover well in excess of £435 million, the University of Southampton is acknowledged as one of the country's top institutions for engineering, computer science and medicine. We combine academic excellence with an innovative and entrepreneurial approach to research, supporting a culture that engages and challenges students and staff in their pursuit of learning.
The University is also home to a number of world-leading research centres including the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research, the Optoelectronics Research Centre, the Institute for Life Sciences, the Web Science Trust and Doctoral training Centre, the Centre for the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, the Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute and is a partner of the National Oceanography Centre at the Southampton waterfront campus.
For further information contact:
Glenn Harris, Media Relations, University of Southampton, Tel: 023 8059 3212, email:
G.Harris@soton.ac.uk
www.soton.ac.uk/mediacentre/
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