The simplest of tests picked up a rare hearing condition and ensured Hamish Budden’s life wasn’t one of silence and isolation.

Hamish Budden, three, was born with a rare condition called auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder which affects the transmission of noise from the inner ear to the brain.

Just 48 hours after being born, the first child of Lorna and Craig Budden, a nurse performed a simple hearing test on Hamish.

A second test, two-days later, also returned a negative result and Hamish was referred to The Townsville Hospital’s audiology department.

“By the time we had our appointment with the audiology team we knew something was wrong. The phone would ring right next to Hamish and he wouldn’t respond,” Lorna said.

“For those first couple of weeks, it was impossible to relax, all you want as a parent is for your child to be healthy.

“Those first couple of months really consumed our lives, we had to come back for about five visits and it took six weeks for the diagnosis to be confirmed.”

Hamish was initially fitted with hearing aids with limited success and after 11 months underwent a procedure to have a cochlear implant.

Craig and Lorna say today, Hamish is a shy but otherwise normal three-year-old who loves tractors and trains and sings nursing rhymes.

“We still work on his speech and language but when we are at home we don’t have to adjust anything just for Hamish, he is just like any other kid,” Craig said.

Craig and Lorna said a key reason for Hamish’s speech and hearing development was how quickly the issue was picked up.

“It was initially devastating finding out that Hamish was deaf because of the extra challenges we knew he’d have to face in life,” she said.

“However, because it was picked up so early through the newborn screening he had hearing aids fitted at nine weeks old and we were able to ensure he had access to both verbal and visual language straight away.

“Now, we just love celebrating every milestone he reaches knowing his future is so bright.”

Townsville Hospital audiologist Sree Aithal has worked with the Budden family for years and said Hamish was the perfect example of the value of newborn hearing screening.

“The newborn hearing screening program has been running since 2004 and here at The Townsville Hospital we’ve screened more than 33,000 newborns,” she said.

“About 10 per cent of these screens require some sort of follow-up with the audiology department here at the hospital.

“Like so many things the earlier any issues can be picked up the better chance we have of getting a good outcome for the patient and their parents.”