The little thing we did every day and the consistent, persistent effort, has enabled Hughan, who is profoundly deaf, to speak on a phone. I am Sue Pietersen and I am sharing my profoundly deaf son's diary from Feb 1989 to help other parents with deaf children through our experience. Hughan was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and when he was 10 days old we moved to live in Gaborone, Botswana. He was diagn
osed profoundly deaf at 14 months old. When he was 18 months old we started a speech only program (no signing) at the Carel du Toit Centre in Cape Town from 1990 - 1994. We moved to Cape Town, in South Africa in 1992, when Hughan received the Cochlear Implant. We had to move so he could be taught to use the equipment. After learning to use the equipment, we moved back to Zimbabwe in 1994 where he started school. We chose to move to England in 1997 when we picked up Hughan also has symptoms of Glaucoma in his eyes (high pressures). We feel so blessed to have worked with so many wonderful specialists over the years that we want to share our experience with others. Hughan has done so well with the clarity of his speech and understanding of language, that he can hold a normal conversation on a phone.
