Joav has always had hearing difficulties
in his left ear. However, this did not hinder him from reaching his goal of
becoming a secondary school teacher. Yet in the year 2000, Joav started to lose
his hearing in the right ear very rapidly. This rapid hearing loss meant that
he had to retire from teaching. He was no longer able to use the phone and his
social life was near to non-existent due to his decreasing self-confidence.
When his first grandchild was born he was unable to hear him when his grandson
started speaking.
In February 2005, Joav received a bionic
ear. He now has a busy social life, can communicate freely with family and
friends, and use the telephone, and most importantly is able to hear his
grandchildren.
Joav belongs to the Institute’s Ambassador program, which is made up of a group of
dedicated volunteers who either have a cochlear implant or have a family member
with an implant, and speak about their experiences to raise community
awareness. Ambassadors are available to give talks to schools, community
and social groups. If you would like to have an Ambassador talk at your
meeting, then please email pr@bionicsinstitute.org and we’ll get in touch with you.
He also acts as a research volunteer
when researchers require implantees to trial improvement to the design and
software of the implants.
