Zia Dredge, 9, has a clear message for Hearing Awareness Week: Deafness doesn’t have to hold you back

Zia Dredge was three weeks old when she was diagnosed with severe hearing loss, a shock that sent her parents into a tailspin of worry and concern about their child’s future.

Ahead of Hearing Awareness Week, the bubbly Brisbane girl’s mother, Heidi Dredge, wants families to know they need not despair if a child has hearing loss, that technology and support have outpaced perceptions of hearing…