Mia was born profoundly deaf and had cochlear implant operation just before she was a year old.

Mia’s mother, Rayan, is profoundly deaf herself but when she discovered that Mia was deaf too she was devastated. Rayan says, “now my daughter was going to have to go through all of what I had to as a child. She would not be able to speak on the phone, follow group discussion, listen to music or enjoy theatre.”

Thanks to the cochlear implants that Mia received, and a specialist family-centred programme at the charity Auditory Verbal UK, Mia learnt to listen and talk and is thriving at school. Mia now faces a bright future and will have the same opportunities in life as hearing children.

Read Mia's story