I was diagnosed with profound bilateral hearing loss when I was just a couple of months old. I started out with hearing aids, but it soon became clear that they weren’t giving me have much access to sound. I was eventually referred for a cochlear implant at St Thomas’s Hospital in London, which I received when I was 18 months old. A year later, I got my second implant.

Like any parents in this situation, mine wanted to do the very best for me, and it was  when I was around two years old that my parents discovered Auditory Verbal therapy after it was recommended by a family they knew.

We started attending fortnightly therapy sessions at charity Auditory Verbal UK in Bicester. We live in South East London so it was a half day round trip with my mum and my dad alternating taking time off work to take me there, and us getting back quite late. Apparently though, I took it all in my stride, especially as we’d have pizza and ice cream for dinner at Bicester Village before heading home!

My parents told me how amazed they were at the quick progress I made in developing my spoken language skills, with the therapists coaching my parents and supporting them with lots of strategies to encourage my listening and speaking.

Mum and Dad said they always felt supported by the team at AVUK and it was especially encouraging and reassuring to be told that there is no limit to the potential of deaf children with access to  early and effective support like Auditory Verbal therapy.

By the time I finished my Auditory Verbal therapy and started school aged four and a half, I had caught up with my friends and my speaking skills were on the same level as other hearing four-year-olds. I attended my local mainstream primary school and loved life there and doing all the activities my friends did, including playing in the football team.

I was very proud to pass my 11+ and go on to attend grammar school. I’ve flourished there academically, gaining 11 high grade GCSEs. I also found a great group of friends and love to hang out with them both inside and outside school.

I stayed on at my school to take the International Baccalaureate (IB) and am now just a few months away from finishing school and going to university.

You have to take a foreign language as part of the IB, so last summer I travelled by myself to Vienna, Austria to attend a two-week German language course for 16–19-year-olds. It was great to meet so many different nationalities and I had an amazing time exploring Vienna and having fun. This summer, once my final IB exams are over, I’m hoping to go interrailing with friends across Europe, and, after that, I’ll be off to university to study History.

I’m really proud to be proving that with early and effective support deaf young people can do the same things as their hearing friends. It’s important to me to challenge expectations of what can be achieved and hope that more deaf children can have the support and opportunities I have had.

Nathaniel aged 17 (February 2025)