At the Conferring of Awards Ceremony at Canberra University this week John Chapman was singled out for recognition for his excellent academic results, one which was said was more remarkable because John is profoundly hearing impaired.

This year only two of the 1700 students from Canberra University received the chancellor’s commendation, which is made to a graduating student for exceptional achievement during the course of study, in spite of overwhelming difficulties or for achievement of a notable outcome worthy of recognition.

The other recipient had gained a doctorate of philosophy.

John’s tertiary success follows on from academic excellence at school level.

At 12 months of age John contracted meningitis and doctors did not expect him to live. When he survived, his parents Bill and Anne Marie Chapman were told he was severely brain damaged.

At three-years-old John was the eleventh person to be fitted with a cochlear implant by the same company he starts work with next year.

Cochlear Limited chief of software development Dr Victor Rodrigues described John Chapman as an “exceptional individual who has a phenomenal grasp of information and depth of knowledge.”

John worked with Dr Rodrigues over the past two years, and also works part time with the CSIRO in Canberra.

“I am quite delighted that he is joining the company and will be working with the team that develops software that clinicians use to tune the implant system,”

Dr Rodrigues said. He added that it helped enormously to have John’s experience as a recipient who knows what it is like to be deaf, who has a device, and it would provide a big advantage to the team.

“He can think as a recipient,” he explained, “to have someone who actually has a devise is phenomenal.

“He is fantastic, I have enjoyed working with him,” he enthused.

But the journey has not been an easy one. John’s mother said he started school several years behind in speech and language because he had missed so much hearing. There were regular trips to Sydney to train Mrs Chapman in technique to teach her son language.

“I always knew I was working with an intelligent child and that if we put in lots of work while he was young it would make a big difference for his future.”

The difference showed through quickly, with John being named dux of North Young Primary School and excelling in his secondary studies.

John said yesterday he had to work very hard to succeed at university and, because he couldn’t hear the lecturers had done everything from notes, friends and textbooks.