It was a trait Ms Richards didn’t want her son Kason to inherit, but in March the diagnosis was delivered – he was profoundly deaf in both ears. 

Fortunately, thanks to advances in technology and a shift in government funding, Kason was able to have two cochlear implants, which enable him to hear. 

“They said if I never went with the cochlear implant, he would never talk,” Ms Richards said. 

“It’s something you never want for your child, it is heartbreaking.” 

But after months of doctors’ appointments and travelling to specialists, Kason, now nine months old, had life-changing surgery. 

Last Tuesday, Kason heard for the first time. 

Ms Richards watched on in ecstatic relief as her son giggled, smiled, and responded to his first noises. 

“I had a big laugh and a smile on my face. His face was full of smiles,” she said. 

Ms Richards was six and a half when she had her own cochlear implant surgery in her right ear, but the government policy was only to fund one implant – a stance that has changed after sustained lobbying and research that showed children’s hearing improved with two implants.

Kason’s expensive implants – costing around $80,000 in total – was thankfully funded by the government.

The lack of auditory specialists in Tamworth and the need to travel constantly to Newcastle took its financial toll. 

“It was really hard for the first few months,” Ms Richards said. Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants are inserted by drilling a hole in the skull and they do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear to provide sound signals to the brain.