Hearing beyond barriers: Kunal’s story
Kunal was born deaf and identified as hard of hearing at around two-and-a-half years old. His family noticed he was not responding to sound while playing with his cousins.
Growing up in Sri Lanka, his early life was shaped by limited awareness, infrastructure and support for hearing loss, alongside his family’s determination to find solutions.
His parents searched tirelessly for answers, travelling back and forth between countries in pursuit of the right solution. A turning point came when a team from Sydney visited Colombo for a conference, where his parents were introduced to cochlear implant technology.
At age 10, Kunal received his first cochlear implant in Sydney, followed by months of rehabilitation, speech therapy and support to develop spoken language and communication skills.
With the added complexity of language learning with a cochlear implant, his family chose to focus on English over his mother tongue, Sinhalese, to best support his communication and future opportunities.
Kunal reflects on his early communication and says, “It was not very clear… I used to depend a lot on lip reading, facial expressions and hand gestures.”
Life in Sri Lanka also presented practical challenges. Using the early, much larger version of the sound processors in hot, humid conditions meant frequent break downs. Repairs or replacements could take weeks due to overseas servicing.
Despite these barriers, Kunal continued to pursue education and later moved to the United States for university before returning to Sri Lanka to work for the family business for around a decade.
In 2018, he made the decision to receive a second cochlear implant, feeling that hearing on one side alone was no longer enough.
Looking back, Kunal described the impact of cochlear implants as “a game changer… it has changed my life since the age of 10.”
Beyond his personal journey, Kunal is deeply motivated to help others who face similar challenges, particularly in under-resourced settings.
He spoke about the realities of growing up in a “third world country,” noting the limitations in infrastructure, awareness and access to care, and feeling fortunate to have had strong family support and the ability to travel for treatment.
This experience has shaped a strong commitment to giving back. Kunal describes a desire to support hearing-impaired children and families in Sri Lanka and broader South Asian communities, where stigma and misunderstanding can still delay diagnosis and early intervention.
He emphasises the importance of helping parents understand that cochlear implants and hearing aids are not a “quick fix,” but part of a long-term journey involving ongoing speech therapy and support.
Kunal now actively shares his lived experience, driven by a belief that real-world stories can help improve research, technology and support systems.
He is particularly passionate about helping children access earlier intervention, noting the importance of brain development in the early years.
I just wanted to share my knowledge, my experience, just part of giving it back.
Kunal sees being involved with the Bionics Institute as an opportunity to contribute his lived experience to research and innovation that can improve outcomes for others.
Today, living in Melbourne, Kunal continues to stay connected to the hearing loss community, motivated by a simple but powerful goal: to help others access the same opportunities that transformed his own life.
