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LUMEN | AL U MNI
Never Giving Up
By Johanna Lim Ziyun
In our society , the deaf or the visually impaired are often underestimated or overlooked . Choosing to change this mindset is Dr Joseph Heng , a third year internal medicine resident at
Johns Hopkins Hospital .
He was born profoundly deaf and had his first cochlear implant at the age of 12 . The procedure for his second cochlear implant on the other ear took place during medical school when he was 25 . After finishing his national service , he went abroad to major in biomedical engineering Johns Hopkins University , and later to Yale for medical school . He is now back at Johns Hopkins University , with the intention of specializing in hematology or oncology . With his growing passion , Dr Heng has excelled in the field of medicine , overcoming his disability .
Dr Heng has an older brother who was also born deaf so his parents already knew what to take note of when he was born . Before the cochlear implant , Dr Heng relied on hearing aids but most of the time they were not always effective , so he had to rely on lip-reading to understand what the other party was saying . Recollecting his school days , he said , “ I missed out on a lot in school , so my mom would read books to me and make me pronounce words over and over again to make sure I got the pronunciation right . I was unable to make phone calls or understand what people are saying on television in movies , which is something many people take for granted .” The hearing aid did not help him to adapt well to his surroundings and school life , but he persevered and worked hard to practise his speech .