A deaf mother-of-two has spoken of the emotional moment she heard her son say ‘I love you’ for the first time.
Australian mother Elizabeth Zappia, 39, was diagnosed with progressive hearing loss when she was 15 months old and her hearing gradually declined over the years.
However, after being fitted with a cochlear implant, she heard her son declare his love for the first time.
Elizabeth Zappia, 39, (pictured left) was diagnosed with progressive hearing loss when she was 15 months old
‘It was really emotional to hear it. I’ve heard him speak before with the hearing aid but it’s quite artificial,’ she explained to Daily Mail Australia.
‘To hear him say it so clearly and I could hear the emotion behind it too, it was amazing, it fills up your heart.’
Elizabeth and her husband Dave have two children, their son Lucas who is five and their daughter Lilly, who is three.
The family appeared on the program This Time Next Year where viewers saw them before Elizabeth had her cochlear implant.
It wasn’t until they returned to the show that Elizabeth heard Lucas say those three words she’d been waiting so long to hear.
‘I love you Mummy,’ a nervous Lucas said before being hugged by his mum on television.
Elizabeth, her husband Dave and their two children Lucas and Lilly appeared on the program This Time Next Year
‘It’s been an emotional time, being on the Today Show brought back emotions and watching me on This Time Next Year brought back a lot of memories,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
She explained that the biggest challenge in terms of her hearing loss has been motherhood.
‘I think this is because there were things out of my control when it came to the children – I couldn’t always understand them or hear them and I felt disconnected from them.
‘Before when I was wearing a hearing aid and with the level of hearing that I had, I came up with strategies that helped me cope with work, university and social situations but when I became a mum my world became a bit larger.’
She explained that the biggest challenge in terms of her hearing loss has been motherhood
‘I realised that as the kids were growing there were things that I was missing out on and I couldn’t keep up with the unpredictability of motherhood.’
Suddenly Elizabeth’s life was filled with pediatricians, doctors, nurses, other mothers and people at day care.
‘And just being a mum to my kids and trying to understand them when their speech was developing, there were things I couldn’t put in strategies for,’ she said.
‘I had to rely on other people, I didn’t like that, I wanted to be their mum and not have to rely on others.’
It was at the end of 2015 Elizabeth noticed that her hearing aid wasn’t working well and that she wasn’t picking up a variety of sounds.
‘I realised that as the kids were growing there were things that I was missing out on and I couldn’t keep up with the unpredictability of motherhood,’ she said
She went to have it fixed but noticed that it wasn’t the hearing aid that was the problem.
‘The next option was a cochlear implant but I wasn’t ready for that option because of the whole process of having the implant, which was therapy and rehabilitation, I was nervous and didn’t understand how it worked.
‘Having it doesn’t automatically turn your hearing on, your brain has to learn how to hear again, so it was the fear of the unknown.’
It was at the end of 2015 Elizabeth noticed that her hearing aid wasn’t working well and that she wasn’t picking up a variety of sounds
It was the Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre that explained to her the whole process.
They promised Elizabeth that she would hear 50 to 80 percent better than before, which she said was ‘amazing to hear’.
‘I think I’m still adjusting now, its been 18 months since I’ve had it done and I’m still hearing new sounds every day but I’ve adjusted to accepting the fact that there will be new sounds.
‘Environmental sounds such as the dishwasher, the TV on in another room and a dog barking in another neighbourhood were difficult and I’d occasionally be so overwhelmed I’d want to cry.
‘The wind would make it extremely hard to concentrate and I was constantly hearing cars driving up and down, it was hard to tolerate all those sounds.’
‘I think I’m still adjusting now, its been 18 months since I’ve had it done and I’m still hearing new sounds every day but I’ve adjusted to accepting the fact that there will be new sounds’
Elizabeth said that now, thanks to the implant, motherhood has completely changed for her.
‘I feel like I have the confidence to be a part of their lives and the communities their involved in like soccer, ballet and swimming school, it’s widened my circle.
‘We’re a lot more connected and there’s a lot less frustration – I was finding it frustrating when I couldn’t understand what they were saying and they found it frustrating too,’ she said.
‘Our relationship has definitely improved and they’re a lot happier now.’
Elizabeth said that she is extremely grateful for all of those who have helped her to be where she is now.
‘I feel a lot more settled, a lot more comfortable, even little things, like driving in the car with my kids, I can respond to them straight away.
‘It’s made my life so much easier and without it I wouldn’t be the mother, wife, friend and sister I am now.’