Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Exhibition celebrates return to hearing world

By Michele Hunter
Bay of Plenty Times·
23 Sep, 2016 07:00 PM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Tauranga woman Charlotte de Jong had her cochlea implant turned on this week, marking the beginning of a life-changing journey back to the hearing world. Photo: Lara Boddington, Soul Sisters Photo

Tauranga woman Charlotte de Jong had her cochlea implant turned on this week, marking the beginning of a life-changing journey back to the hearing world. Photo: Lara Boddington, Soul Sisters Photo

Overhearing childhood conversations between her sons, or the banter over the dinner table on a night out with friends are things Tauranga woman Charlotte de Jong will never take for granted.

The 35-year-old had her cochlear implant switched on this week, helping her return to a world that has been slowly slipping away for more than a decade.

Mrs de Jong had perfect hearing as a child but by her late teens it was starting to decline and at age 18 she got her first hearing aids.

Shortly after she turned 30, when her youngest son was six-weeks-old, she experienced sudden complete hearing loss in her right ear.

"I still managed but then have had even further hearing loss until last year when I went to my audiologist, who said it was time she referred me for a cochlear implant," Mrs de Jong said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Over the years, as her hearing eroded, so too did her social life.

"When I compare my life now to how it was a few years ago then I am definitely less social - going out to a restaurant with friends is really hard, I can't follow any banter between friends as I can't lip read fast enough. In my job, as a teacher, small things like understanding what word my students are wanting me to spell for them, hearing their speeches, keeping up in meetings etc are really hard."

Raising my sons - I feel that I miss out on "over hearing" the conversations between them.
I have always tried really hard not to let my hearing loss get in the way of living but over the last couple of years that's become so much harder."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Mrs de Jong described the moment her implant was switched on Monday as a truly unique experience.

"I had been prepared for voices to sound like chipmunks or Donald Duck but they really didn't. At the beginning voices just sounded like electronic sound. Within a couple of minutes I could pick out the number of syllables within a word, then slowly I could pick up some words. Within a few hours voices sounded like they were being distorted by an electronic voice-changer."

She has daily listening rehabilitation and is calling on the help of family and friends to expose herself to a range of different voices, helping her to progress faster.

Once settled the implant will be "life-changing" - without it she would not be able to continue her work as a teacher.

"I will be able to stay in a job that I love, continue to communicate verbally with my children and husband, function in society with relative ease, socialise with my friends and continue to live the life I was living."

However, it hasn't been an easy road.

"The operation did throw me around more than I expected it to but I always knew it would be worth it. Lucky for me I have a very supportive husband, family, friends and school who have all been amazing."

Mrs de Jong also runs her own internet-based business, The Concrete Chick, creating home decor from concrete.

"I really enjoy coming up with new and interesting concrete pieces for homes," she said.

The busy mum considers herself very fortunate to have received one of only 20 cochlear implants received in the northern area (from Taupo north) each year.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"There are so many others who could benefit from this technology if more funding was made available," she said.

A photography exhibition celebrating the life-changing impact of cochlear implants last night opened in Tauranga, featuring local mums who have become advocates for the cause.

The Sounds of Life exhibition opened at The Historic Village, showcasing the lives of Kiwis enriched by a cochlear implant operation to restore hearing loss.

The photos, taken by Lara Boddington of Auckland company Soul Sisters Photography, also featured in the Auckland Festival of Photography in June.

From Tauranga the exhibition will head to Hamilton and other destinations around the country.

Marketing and communications manager for The Pindrop Foundation, which raises awareness of cochlear implants, Nicola Russell, said hearing loss in adults could lead to depression, frustration and social isolation.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Trying to bring awareness to severe hearing loss is a difficult thing to do," she said.
The 13 exhibition participants, who come from all works of life, have shared their personal stories in a booklet accompanying the exhibition and on the Pindrop website.

Cochlear implant recipients, including Tauranga women Josie Calcott and Aynsley Staessens, also attended the exhibition, opened by Tauranga MP Simon Bridges.
Since receiving their implants both women have worked in the community to raise awareness and understanding of cochlear implants.

While implants were costly, Ms Russell said the gains were huge in terms of improved health. Recipients were more able to remain engaged in work, tertiary education and careers.

Loss of hearing was linked to loneliness and cognitive decline, Ms Russell said.
Often unintentionally, hearing people would stop talking to individuals with hearing loss because they weren't being understood.

"Hearing loss cuts you off from people."

In two years the Northern Cochlear Implant Programme has gone from having 68 adults on the waiting list, with an expected wait time of 14 months to 75 to 80 people and a wait time of more than two years.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ms Russell said those waiting for an implant were regularly scored on their eligibility and as a result could move up or down the list, causing them to live with constant uncertainty.

"Your life is on hold and it could be on hold for a number of years," she said.

The Pindrop Foundation hopes to give people with a hearing a voice at government level to increase the funding for implants in New Zealand.

Sounds of Life Photography Exhibition
When: Today 10am-3pm
Where: The Balcony Room, The Historic Village, Seventeenth Ave West, Tauranga
Admission: Free

Cochlear Implants in New Zealand
- A cochlear implant is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is severely hard of hearing or profoundly deaf.
- The average cost of an implant, and one year of rehabilitation, is $50,000.
- Only 40 adult implant operations are funded each year - 20 in the northern region (from Taupo north) and 20 in the southern region.
- About 1500 people have received cochlear implants in New Zealand.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'I wasn't prepared to wait': Youngest Govt MP on seizing his big opportunity

09 Jul 12:26 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

Rain train: Weather watches keep rolling in for Bay of Plenty

09 Jul 01:32 AM

Heavy rain watch for Bay of Plenty from 1pm Friday to 5am Saturday.

'I wasn't prepared to wait': Youngest Govt MP on seizing his big opportunity

'I wasn't prepared to wait': Youngest Govt MP on seizing his big opportunity

09 Jul 12:26 AM
'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

'Ecstatic' reunion: Cat found after year-long disappearance

09 Jul 12:00 AM
‘Very committed’: Williamson not done with Black Caps despite Zimbabwe snub

‘Very committed’: Williamson not done with Black Caps despite Zimbabwe snub

09 Jul 12:00 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP