From Silence to Sound: Shirley’s Cochlear Hearing Journey
Hearing loss shaped Shirley’s life from childhood, but it never defined her limits.
Her hearing difficulties were first noticed in 1949 when she was just four years old. At the time, specialists could not explain the loss in one ear, and because she could still hear well on the other side and spoke fluently, no hearing aid was recommended.
Shirley (front and centre in the photo above surrounded by members of the Carindale BHA Hearing Loss Support Group) adapted early. At school, she always sat in the front row so she could hear the teacher and went on to do well academically, particularly in English, writing and history.
But, as she grew older, her hearing continued to decline. At around 12, she was fitted with her first hearing aid. Shirley wasn’t about to let that slow her down! She continued to thrive. She loved sport and made the representative squads in netball and table tennis. She played tennis at club level and later completed a hairdressing apprenticeship.
When hearing loss became profound
After the birth of her children, Shirley’s hearing worsened significantly. By the age of 29, she was totally deaf.
What followed was one of the most difficult periods of her life. Her marriage broke down, and during a long custody battle, her hearing loss was used against her.
“My husband said he could not put up with a deaf and dumb wife.”
Shirley had to seek special permission to have a friend interpret the proceedings via lipreading so she could follow the court proceedings. There were no live captions in those days.
“It was hard in court,” Shirley says. “I will always be grateful to the lawyer who represented me pro bono. He learned from it too, telling me how much it opened his eyes to how people with hearing loss could be treated by people who were just plain ignorant of the disability.”
At the same time, she was raising two children, paying a mortgage and trying to navigate a world that often misunderstood deafness and hearing loss. Because she spoke clearly, many people struggled to understand that she could not hear them.
“Many people just could not understand why I was speaking so well, yet couldn’t hear or understand them,” Shirley says. “I just wasn’t believed.”
Without access to formal lipreading lessons, Shirley taught herself. Long days were spent memorising passages from newspapers and magazines. Shirley would then stand in front of a mirror, repeat the passages, and practise the shapes of words. Shirley’s children were also asked to slow down when speaking so she could lipread them more easily.
Searching for a way back to sound
Throughout those years, Shirley never stopped looking for ways to hear again.
In the mid-1980s, she learned that cochlear implants were becoming available in New Zealand and applied through her ENT specialist. The answer was devastating. She was told she did not need an implant because she lipread too well, spoke too well and seemed too well adjusted to deafness.
“I was totally devastated,” she says. “Even more so when I learnt that the people who decided if I was eligible for an implant were business people, not medical specialists.”
There was a glimmer of happiness however. It was during these times that Shirley met her second husband at a social occasion in 1975 – a man who stood by her and continues to do so to this day.
Soon after, Shirley and her husband both lost their jobs through company restructure. With Shirley’s children grown, the couple decided to move back to Queensland in 1987 permanently after having spent several long holidays in Australia.
There, a single conversation changed everything.
A GP who learned about Shirley’s hearing history suggested she consider a cochlear implant. When Shirley explained that she had already been told she was ineligible, his response was simple: “Not from where I am sitting.”
That moment set Shirley on the path back to hearing.
A long cochlear implant journey
After a new assessment, Shirley was found to be a suitable candidate and received her first cochlear implant in 1989 for her left ear.
What she could not have known then was that her hearing journey would stretch across 20 years and eight surgeries before she achieved lasting success with two implants. The first real breakthrough came in the left ear in 2005. The final successful surgery came in 2008 in the right ear, making her bilaterally implanted.
To celebrate, Shirley named her two processors Tom and Jerry.
Even after surgery, learning to hear again took time.
“It was challenging learning to listen with a whole new sound,” Shirley says.
Then came the moment she knew everything had changed. Her husband spoke to her from behind, and she answered automatically.
“I knew then that I had the full benefits of the implants,” she says. “I really could hear without lipreading.”
Rediscovering the sound of everyday life
With hearing came something else: the return of ordinary sounds that many people barely notice.
Shirley began hearing birdsong, car indicators, clocks ticking and even her cat purring. She found joy in sitting outside with a coffee and listening to the birds.
“My favourite bird sound became the kookaburras arguing or laughing,” she says.
“I had forgotten just how noisy the world was.”
That return to sound also brought greater confidence and independence.
“Hearing with two implants is a bonus,” Shirley says. “I can hear all around me and not just on one side. I wouldn’t be without them anywhere.”
Working life and resilience
Shirley went on to work with Queensland Police for 21 years and was told she was the first deaf person employed by the organisation. The work was challenging, especially learning the language and rhythm of a workplace built around fast communication.
One misunderstanding became a favourite workplace story. Shirley once lipread the word grub and assumed someone meant an insect. She asked where it was so it could be sprayed, only to learn that grub was police slang for a criminal.
“Learning to listen to two languages was challenging and certainly very educational,” she says.
Her story is one of persistence, humour and adaptability, but also a reminder that hearing loss is often not well understood by the broader community.
Shirley’s lounge room wall is adorned with multiple certificates of appreciation and newspaper articles she is featured in.
Advocating for herself and others with hearing loss
With the confidence Shirley gained from the cochlear implant and the knowledge and information that she has learnt and gained over the years, Shirley found that she wanted to use that knowledge to help others with hearing loss.
Shirley joined CICADA Queensland, and after a few years became Secretary, a position she held for 25 years. She became a Guest Speaker and spoke to several organisations about the challenging and diverse world of hearing loss. This advocacy work led to the receiving of several Awards.
In 2024 Shirley attended BHA Brisbane Carindale Hearing Loss Support group armed with the knowledge she gained with a determination to pass on all she has learnt. She has become involved in the group becoming the convenor and has organised real-time captioning for the group to help with communication. Shirley has assisted several members , assisting them however she can to enable them to improve their lives.
Making the most of hearing technology today
Today, Shirley embraces hearing technology in all its forms.
She uses a captioned telephone for appointments and longer calls, turns on captioning features on her mobile phone, relies on Live Transcribe when accents or fast speech are difficult, and asks for real-time captioning at meetings and presentations. She also uses text and Messenger and has requested open-captioned films at the cinema.
“It is amazing just how far technology has come,” Shirley says, “and I am told it will only get better.”
In 2023, Shirley upgraded to the latest sound processor and continues to marvel at what hearing technology can do.
“Even though Tom and Jerry have two distinctly different sounds, they truly become married when both are worn as they become one sound,” she says.
A story of courage, advocacy and hope
Shirley’s story is about more than hearing loss. It is about resilience, motherhood, work, technology, independence and refusing to accept that a smaller life was the only option.
For people living with hearing loss, and for those supporting them, her story is also a powerful reminder that support, access and the right technology can make an extraordinary difference.
If you would like support in relation to hearing loss, communication access, hearing technology or community connection, Better Hearing Australia may be able to help.
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