How Jae Denney’s deafness led to career as Hearing Australia audiologist

“Yes, I have a significant hearing loss but it doesn’t mean I’m not capable of achieving amazing things”: This Tasmanian woman lost her hearing as a baby. Now, she’s helping others build capacity.

Launceston cochlear implant recipient Jae Denney, who has become a provisional audiologist with Hearing Australia to help other people with deafness. Picture: Supplied

When 30-year-old Launceston woman Jae Denney heard the sound of her housemate’s beaglier pup’s nails click-clacking on concrete, it was like nothing she had ever heard before.

Not because she has never seen a dog before – Ms Denney became profoundly deaf as a baby after receiving treatment for meningitis.

However, a cochlear implant in her right ear in March 2022, performed by The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, one 5620 cochlear implant surgeries it has undertaken in its history, opened up soundscapes she never knew existed.

“I could hear his little nails like click-clacking on the concrete and I absolutely love that sound, it was one of those things that you just didn’t hear,” Ms Denney said.

Launceston cochlear implant recipient Jae Denney, who has become a provisional audiologist with Hearing Australia to help other people with deafness. Picture: Supplied

“And I’m actually able to hear on the phone … I remember calling mum and she was

so excited. And she was bragging to everyone like, ‘Oh, I just had my first phone call

with my daughter!’”

A meeting with a Hearing Australia paediatric audiologist at the age of 12 helped expand her horizons, Ms Denney said.

“He was such a kind and caring audiologist. He was always so positive and made me feel like my hearing loss didn’t have to stop me from achieving my dreams,” she said.

Follow @humidityreport

“He never treated me as someone with a disability. That was something that became so important to me. Yes, I have a significant hearing loss but it doesn’t mean I’m not capable of achieving amazing things.”

It’s a relationship that has stuck with her, now more so than ever – in January this year, she began her 12-month audiology apprenticeship at that very same organisation, having earlier completed a Bachelor of Applied Science and Master of Clinical Audiology at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

Launceston cochlear implant recipient Jae Denney, who has become a provisional audiologist with Hearing Australia to help other people with deafness, as a child. Picture: Supplied

At Hearing Australia, she “provides hearing assessments, hearing devices if needed, ongoing care and device repairs, advice for improvements to listening and communication, and counselling and rehabilitation programs”.

Not only does she now have the opportunity to better the lives of people going through her exact experiences, but she has learnt more about her own condition, too.

“I know what it is like to have a hearing loss, and how frustrating it can be when you can’t hear or communicate properly. However, I didn’t fully understand why,” Ms Denney said.

“For example, often it takes me a while to process what someone has said. I’ll say, ‘Pardon, I didn’t quite get that,’ and before they finish repeating it, I realise what they said.

“I always thought this was just me but I discovered that people with a severe hearing loss actually do take longer to process what is being said.

“It’s been really helpful to understand the ‘why’.

“And I hope this also allows me to not only understand what other people with a hearing loss are going through, but to also help them understand their own hearing loss.”

Ms Denney has shared her story to coincide with Friday’s World Hearing Day, an initiative by the World Health Organisation.

Originally published as How Jae Denney’s deafness led to career as Hearing Australia audiologist