Focus: Student seeks support for petition to have hearing aid batteries funded for life

Green Bay High School student Felix Shaw wants support for a petition which he hopes to take to Parliament to have hearing aid batteries fully funded for adults. The 16-year-old, who was born deaf, sat down with NZ Herald Focus reporter Chereè Kinnear to discuss why he wants things to change so hearing becomes something everyone can afford.

Felix Shaw has been deaf his whole life.

The 16-year-old can hear thanks to implants and his $7500 hearing aids, which have been fully funded.

But in two years, he’ll have to take over the costs himself, including paying for hearing aid batteries.

“I discovered last year that when I turn 18, I’m going to have to pay $7.50 a week just so I can hear,” Shaw told Focus.

“Once I started to get my head around the numbers, I thought, ‘This is actually a problem that’s not only affecting me, but is going to affect loads of people’.”

The Green Bay High School student presented a speech to his class on the topic before deciding to take action by setting up a petition.

“I put it up and I didn’t think it would get much support, but I got over 1000 signatures within a short time and everyone was sharing it online, and the support was overwhelming.”

The petition, “Stop people born deaf having to pay for hearing aid batteries once they turn 18,″ has just under 2000 signatures and has turned heads in Parliament.

Felix Shaw was left shocked when he discovered he would have to fund his own hearing aid batteries once he turned 18. Photo / Cameron Pitney

Shaw met with Labour MP Deborah Russell last year, who encouraged him to take the matter to Wellington.

“The dream would be to present the petition on the steps of Parliament,” Shaw said.

“But more realistically, I would meet with a politician and it would be a formal handover, and then the politician would take it down to Parliament then it would get read out in the house.”

National Foundation for Deaf & Hard of Hearing Foundation (NFDHH) chief executive Natasha Gallardo said the petition “highlighted an issue felt by many”.

“We receive a lot of feedback from our community on that particular issue,” she said.

“We try to provide cost-effective batteries through the NFDHH as an option for our community, but it’s definitely something that is felt across the board.”

Around one million Kiwis live with hearing loss, and that figure is set to double by 2050.

There are a range of hearing aid options - some, like Felix’s are battery-powered, while others are rechargeable.

Most need to be replaced every five years.

“Consideration given to a subsidy for consumables, particularly for low-income earners, would be appropriate,” Gallardo said. “You can be fitted with glasses for $150 and that’s it. But you can spend up to $10,000 for premium hearing aids.

“On top of that, depending on what type of hearing aid you have, you’ve got the consumables like hearing aid batteries that are an ongoing cost.”

Shaw hopes his petition will bring change so hearing becomes something everyone can afford.