MS Features: The Singaporean girl helping her deaf younger sister
Recently, a young Singaporean girl touched netizens’ hearts after creating hearing aid bands for her baby sister, who was diagnosed with severe to profound hearing loss.
The mother of the two girls shared that her younger daughter, Amisyah, failed her newborn hearing tests thrice.
But while the infant quickly got a pair of hearing aids, she would often pull them out.
Fortunately, the little girl was blessed not just with supportive parents, but also with a thoughtful older sister.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
To help secure her younger sister’s device onto her ears while ensuring her comfort, five-year-old Maya decided to make hearing aid bands.
Newborn fails her hearing tests
The girls’ mother, 24-year-old Shirah, told MS News that things were not easy at the start.
She gave birth to Amisyah at 37 weeks in Nov 2025, after entering preterm labour two weeks before.
Ms Shirah said everything appeared normal, so she had no worries about her baby — until the time came for some hearing tests.
“It was only when the nurse said she failed three times that I started to worry,” she said.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
Ms Shirah would also observe that her newborn failed to startle when something drops, or when she vacuums the house.
And while Amisyah was responsive whenever the family spoke to her, it was not to their voices.
“After discussing with the doctors and the audiologist, we discovered that her response is towards our facial expressions,” Ms Shirah revealed.
Confirmed deaf at three months old
Amisyah was then referred to an ENT (Ear Nose Throat) specialist, who confirmed that she had severe to profound hearing loss when she was only three months old.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
Ms Shirah explained to MS News that Amisyah could not hear speech sounds.
She could only hear sounds that measure about 110 to 220 decibels — extremely loud noises such as those of jackhammers and thunder, which would normally be painful for individuals to hear.
Even then, Amisyah hears these noises as soft.
A mother’s struggle
Ms Shirah said that she began blaming herself for her daughter’s condition:
I wondered, ‘What did I do wrong during the pregnancy?’
Though she was initially affected by the news, Ms Shirah eventually accepted it with the support of her husband, 25-year-old Haikal.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
“My husband was more reassuring and hopeful, the total opposite of me,” Ms Shirah said.
“He just told me that she’s just like any other normal child and that there are ways we can help her together.”
When doctors finally confirmed that her baby was deaf, Ms Shirah could not help but cry.
However, she said she also felt relief as they could now proceed to help young Amisyah.
Getting hearing aids at four months old
Amisyah got her first pair of hearing aids at four months old.
“During her hearing aids activation, she made this shocked expression — as though she was so fascinated to hear some sounds,” Ms Shirah shared.
“It was really cute.”
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
While the family was excited for their youngest, the hearing aids took some getting used to for the little one.
Amisyah would often remove the devices due to its feedback.
This left the family trying different ways to keep the device in her ears — but Maya, then five years old, had an idea of her own.
Five-year-old makes hearing aid bands for school project
As part of her school’s STEM programme, Maya chose to invent an object that would help hold her sister’s hearing aids in place.
“I didn’t find out until she created her first draft of the project with her teachers, and her teachers informed me,” Ms Shirah said.
“I was touched by it and a little shocked too, because I didn’t expect her to do this.”
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
Ms Shirah shared that her older daughter surprisingly did a lot of research and design (R&D), despite her young age.
Whenever she came home from school, Maya would ask her for different types of cloth, so she could feel them.
She then came up with different prototypes, which she had Amisyah try during school visits.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
“She tested for durability, whether it’s comfortable for the sister, whether it will be trap heat,” Ms Shirah shared.
Besides rigorous R&D, Maya also went around their neighbourhood asking people what they thought about her product.
Everyone was touched and amazed that a five-year-old can think of something like this — how she loves her sister to the point of invention.
The final product was a headband made with fabric wrapped around a piece of foam.
It also has elastic slider hooks and velcro to fasten the band around the head, Ms Shirah told MS News.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
Older sister softens for younger sibling
Ms Shirah had nothing but praise for her first-born, who she said processed the information about her sister’s condition “really well”.
When Amisyah got her hearing aids, Maya would help put them back whenever her younger sister took them out.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
Her older daughter also became more aware of her surroundings.
“Usually she is a really loud girl. She loves to sing, she loves to dance. With her little sister around, she became a bit softer,” shared Ms Shirah.
“Whenever she spoke to her sister, she would talk in a lower voice, be more gentle. And she also started to learn baby sign language, so that she could communicate with her.”
Getting cochlear implants at eight months old
Although Amisyah would use the hearing aid bands her sister made for her, she soon had to get her cochlear implants.
When she was eight months old, the family was told her hearing aids were no longer sufficient.
After tests such as an MRI, it was found that Amisyah was a suitable candidate for cochlear implants.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
Ms Shirah said that this stage was harder for her to process, compared to the initial news about Amisyah’s hearing loss.
“The thought of a baby having to go through such a major eight-hour surgery was really tough for me to accept,” she told MS News.
The worried mum only felt confident to send her baby to surgery after her husband and his family told her it had to be done to help Amisyah.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
A week after her birthday, Amisyah finally got her cochlear implants.
Ms Shirah shared that the toddler experienced the normal side effects of surgery, such as swollen eyes and nose bleeding, but was back to normal only a couple of days later.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
Toddler now loves to sing and dance
Ms Shirah said that the cochlear implants have proved to be better for Amisyah, as she barely pulls them out now, since they are more tolerable for her.
“She can hear speech sounds now, and she’s actually starting to talk,” she shared, adding that Amisyah has also started speech therapy.
“She loves to call her papa’s name. She loves to sing. She loves to dance.”
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
The mum shared that Amisyah has to attend a speech therapy session every week for a year, then every month for the rest of her life after that.
She explained that this is to map Amisyah’s cochlear implants and to help her learn how to process sounds and speech, preventing speech delay.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
Now that her baby sister can hear, Maya is happier than ever.
“I feel happy because she can hear me and we can play together and laugh together,” she said.
When asked what sound she wants her sister to enjoy hearing, the now six-year-old replied cheekily: “My voice.”
Mum has positive outlook for toddler’s future
Ms Shirah said that things are only looking up for Amisyah, now that she has cochlear implants.
“Even now, when Amisyah is talking, it is the same, like how her sister was talking,” she added.
“So I will say I have high hopes that she can speak normally.”
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
When asked about her advice to other parents with young children who are non-hearing or hard of hearing, Ms Shirah said to seek help early and to not ignore the signs.
She revealed that she has encountered parents who think their children’s condition will go away over time.
“It’s better to take action to help the child, instead of thinking that they will hear eventually,” said Ms Shirah, who added that this may only cause speech delay.
She also urged them to find a strong support system in their family or the deaf community.
Image courtesy of Ms Shirah.
Meanwhile, Maya also had some words of advice for other young children with deaf siblings.
“Be supportive and encouraging to them. Also, find ways to help them feel comfortable if they are wearing hearing aids or cochlear implants.”
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Featured image adapted from Ms Shirah.
