Bradley Leyson's inventive ideas for ears recognised

First he started his high school education and then he received news that his design inventions in the IDEASforEARS contest were the best entries received from throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Winning the IDEASforEARS competition meant Bradley and his mother Jessica Leyshon were able to travel to Innsbruck in Austria last month to represent Australia and they were joined by 13 other young inventors from across the world at this global competition.

Bradley's winning designs included an environmentally friendly and recyclable version of an existing hearing gadget that helps people with implants stream TV and listen to music and how best to create an individual cover to personalise a cochlear implant.

How did Bradley become a hearing 'gadget' inventor?

He was born with Unilateral hearing loss (UHL) which means his hearing is normal in one ear but there is hearing loss in the other ear.

In his case he has no hearing in his left ear but exceptional hearing in his right, a condition that was not initially diagnosed when he was a newborn.

His mother Jessica said she became aware of his hearing problem just before he started kindergarten.

"When we played hide and seek Bradley would often head in the opposite direction to my call which is a sign he might have had a hearing problem," she said.

"Further tests and specialists confirmed his hearing loss in his left ear but the reasons for this could not be ascertained."

Four years ago Bradley received a cochlear implant at the John Hunter Hospital with the surgery performed by Dr Kelvin Kong.

When asked what it was like immediately after the implant Bradley said he started crying because everything was so loud.

"I collapsed to the floor when I heard my first fire truck go past," he said.

The trip to Austria was hosted by the manufacturers of Bradley's cochlear implant MED-EL.

And during their time at the company's headquarters in Innsbruck Bradley meet with the people who made his actual implant.

Bradley explained that he chose to design an implant cover using recycled material because he wanted to make an implant cover that would not only make its user happy would would also make the environment happy.

While overseas he and his mother also visited Munich and Vienna which they both enjoyed very much.

Jessica explained that the implant had such a life changing experience not only for Bradley but also his family.

"He is so much more confident and this trip has been such a wonderful experience for him," she said.

"Being with children from around the world with implants and talking to them and their family was a memorable and unique experience. We all wanted to share our stories with each other and it was sad saying goodbye at the end of the event."

Also assisting the Bradley and his family has been NextSense, a not-for-profit and registered NDIS provider that provides services for children, adults and families of people with hearing or vision loss.

So to a future career Bradley said he would like to be an actor.