When Zak Dawson-Ropata was 15 months old, he became the first child of Deaf parents to get a cochlear implant in New Zealand. Zak is now 19 and his nine-year old brother Max has bilateral cochlear implants. Fourteen-year-old sister Abby is also a child of deaf adults (CODA) but has typical hearing. The Dawson-Ropata family communicate with New Zealand Sign Language between the parents and children, while the siblings speak among themselves. The Christchurch family generously shared their story recently.
Lisa Dawson (37) has spent her life in Christchurch, while Darren Ropata (36) grew up in South Auckland. They were both born profoundly deaf and grew up with hearing aids, but couldn’t hear some sounds, and both communicated using NZSL exclusively. Lisa has an older sister who is deaf, and her father is hard of hearing, while Darren has deaf cousins on both sides of his family. They met when they were 14 at the Deaf Games in Christchurch. It was Labour weekend 2001.
At the time Lisa attended van Asch Deaf Education Centre, while Darren went to Kelston Deaf Education Centre. A couple of years later their romance blossomed again in Hamilton, around the time of another Deaf Games, and Zak was born when they were 17. Lisa recalls a cochlear implant being mentioned as one of the options for Zak after his newborn screening test showed he was profoundly deaf. Cochlear implants were new technology for the couple, and they researched it.
“It was a difficult decision for us to make and I didn’t know how that would affect the deaf community, and us as well, because we were going to be the first deaf family in New Zealand to get a cochlear implant,” Lisa says. There was some negativity about parents being in the deaf community and their deaf children being in the hearing world. “My general approach to that is that I’m being positive for my child and I’m trying to look at my child’s future,” Lisa says. “There were barriers for Darren and I growing up. We found there was a huge difference between deaf education and mainstream education.
“We wanted Zak to get access to both worlds – the hearing and the deaf world – because we had experienced all those barriers. We wanted what was best for Zak’s future,” Lisa says. She recalls Zak’s switch-on as a very visual experience. “I remember Zak opening his eyes wide as they turned it on, and he started blinking quite a lot as he was hearing the sounds. He just loved it.” When he was young, she valued the support of her mother as Grandma spoke with Zak and helped with his speech therapy. Zak has left school and is job hunting, participating in the Workbridge programme and experiencing various jobs. “I am happy I got a cochlear implant. I value it and having the option to hear or not.” He jokes that the ‘or not’ refers to when he turns off his processor to achieve some peace and quiet, particularly if his younger brother is being noisy.
“My cochlear implant definitely opens up more options for work. I’m keen to get a job and I’ll keep trying until I do.” As a boy, Zak loved playing rugby and rugby league, following in his father’s footsteps. Max is soon to start his first season playing rugby and is looking forward to it. Max received his cochlear implants when he was one. As a toddler Lisa says he was adamant about removing his processors and his parents would put them back on constantly. He accepted them when he was three. Max enjoys school and learning about space, NASA and rockets. He likes writing and handwriting lessons and loves animals, especially the family’s pet cats Milky and Poppet. Computers and gaming are another interest, and he likes the game Roblox as well as listening to music.
Abby, Max, Darren, Lisa and Zak
Lisa says it was an easier decision for Max to have cochlear implants. In the decade between the boys’ surgeries, the deaf community as a whole has become more accepting of cochlear implants, she says. Max has friends with cochlear implants and is part of the Deaf/CODA and cochlear implant Hub which meets in the Christchurch suburb of Redwood each Thursday. The family is involved in the Canterbury Parents of Deaf Children group and attends camps. “We can see the difference now that more and more deaf parents are changing their view about cochlear implants and that potentially comes from Zak’s experience. I think other parents have learned from our journey,” Lisa says.
Having talked with others about cochlear implants, the common questions are about hearing the telephone, playing sport and swimming – the answers are all positive. Over the course of Zak’s life and the whānau connection with SCIP, Lisa says the technology has improved and the processors are smaller, while the Roger Pen accessory has also progressed and supports Max in the classroom these days. “What an improvement we’ve seen through the years – it’s really good,” she says.