We've Been Featured!

Back in early July we got an email from the lovely Editor of British Deaf News, Anna asking if we'd like to provide an interview for their August Magazine - we of course jumped up and said we would love to!

Anna came across us and found 'Deafness & Friendships' and 'Is Deafness a Disability?' interesting  and wanted to ask us a little more about them and some other burning questions they wanted to know. We of course love to spark conversation and discuss frankly all matters of our lives and Deafness as many posts of ours have displayed.

One thing I think was apparent during the writing of this interview was how different our opinion was on our 'Disability' and it's something we really love to discuss with you guys because we are different, despite being best friends we do see a variety of opinion between us (although it does have
to be known we agree on near enough everything else) and I think this made it a readable article.

I'm so proud of this and everything that we achieve, it was really great fun to write and even more exciting to see it come through the post in print! It felt very surreal seeing our photo on paper with all our words placed together. It holds a marvellous memory for us both and it wouldn't be possible without you guys reading our posts - so many heartfelt thanks!

It's holding pride of place on my new desk - I can't bring myself to pack it away yet!

Is Deafness a Disability? by Imogene

I recently read a comment on a Facebook Deafness page that I follow. People write on there very often sharing tips or asking questions related to a Deaf matter. I follow it because Els sent me a request once to read an article and I've yet to delete it.. not that I have a reason to.

I often find reading other peoples thoughts and feelings on being Deaf really interesting, it seems so many people find so many different degrees of Deafness and love sharing what it means to them. I love this, regardless of saying that I didn't like admitting I was "Deaf" but despite it, I like to know how people view themselves - I have such respect to all them that are very open and honest about their situation. It takes guts to show what can be a weakness to others (and yourself) and see it in the best possible light, it's wonderful and there's definitely something we can all learn from it.

The other day something stood out to me. It was a young girl just throwing a question out for debate and of course many had a opinion to throw in. I watched for a while seeing how this conversation was going to play out and it was really lovely to read so many genuine answers.
The question being:

I have a question, i'd like to think what you think about this question.
Definition of disabled - a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities.
So do you (deaf people) class yourself as disabled? ...
& Why do you think the answer?

No nasty comments please thank you!

by Chloe'Lian Fisher

Playing Mum with No Working Hearing Aids.. by Imogene

Hi there again!

I am a Mum to two beautiful young boys (3 & 13 weeks) and they are the centre of my world. Everyday, I am doing things with them, listening to their cries, chants and giggles. They're honestly the most beautiful sounds I hear and I thoroughly appreciate being able to hear them. But what happens on the one day you can't?

Let me explain.
Wednesday last week, I woke as usual to the vibration of Freddie thumping around the bedroom and his (very) high pitched squeal as my hubby is tickling him. It's a normal morning. I sit up and put my hearing aids in and try and hush my lads as my littlest is fast asleep, and well, it's too early to hear such loud noises.
I get up, get dressed and go fetch some breakfast as Noah is still fast asleep. I do love the hectic mornings in this house. It's constantly filled with Freddie shouting he wants more milk with his cereal, or how hubby will be late home that afternoon, or that Noah will want a bottle at 20 past the hour. It's all so normal and it's the thing I wake up to and adore. I like the sound of babbling voices and things lumping around. It's my family.

I however dislike when my hearing aids run out. The tapping really irritates me, and always seem to start at the most inconvenient time! But like everything you tend to do as a parent you just put it to one side and get round to it when you can. My life is busy as a Mum, I'm constantly on the go of feeding and changing, as well as talking and playing. So on the day when one of your hearing aids decides it's finished it's battery life, you think "yeah, OK, I'll change you once I've finish *insert job here*" and this is exactly what I did.
Until my other one decided to start going off too.
Safe to say I rely on my hearing aids A LOT when I'm at home.

Freddie is very much one of them Toddlers that when they want something, they'll want to drag you or keep hanging around the item they want; for example Freddie keeps opening and shutting the pantry door when he wants something to eat. It's probably partly because he's around me most of the time, so knows that will get my attention. Of course he doesn't always do that, he does often shove his face in mine and go "Can I have a biscuit?" "Mummmmmmmmmmmy, I'm huuungry!" or "What time is it? Is it time for Dinner?!"

So on this day my hearing aids were tapping away, driving me up the wall. I had to stop doing everything and find some batteries.
I have many spots around the house and in bags where my battery packs seem to accumulate. In a basket above the microwave, in my handbag, in Noah's changing bag and beside my bedside. I went to all of my usual spots and there were either packets of all used batteries (why these were still here I've no idea!) or there was nothing to find.

Oh Sh*t!

I was a Mum in a house alone with two young, demanding kids and I was completely deaf.
You could imagine how quiet it felt. It felt really odd seeing and looking after my kids but with absolutely no hearing. I managed the best I could and things were OK, I just had to watch everything 10x more than I ever had before. Every move and action had to be accounted for.
A natural thing as a parent is to keep an eye out and look after your child, but there was something about them hours that made me feel like I was doing a terrible job. I know I wasn't really, but it did make me realise that sometimes I rely on my Aids more than I think.

I contacted my mum by text and she tried ringing me, but texting that I can't hear and well, it was a massive miscommunication but finally got to explain that I don't have any batteries!
 As a family we don't have any transport so I couldn't drive to the Hospital, I didn't have any cash on me to get the bus to the Hospital, or a shop to buy any, Chris was at work until 5, which means the shops would be close by the time he finished his shift (not to mention it was 10am in the morning).. It was basically the most annoying situation ever.

My Nan came to my rescue and brought some in Boots for me and brought them to me (Got to love Grandparents who'll do anything for you!). I was saved and all systems were go..
I will never let myself get in that situation ever again. It was hugely frustrating.
It showed me what I am capable of as a Mum, exactly how much I appreciate having Hearing Aids in my life and that I love the sounds my family make. If I didn't have them, I don't know what I'd do!

Experiencing a Deaf School: By Eleanor

In February 2014 I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to visit a deaf school in London for 7 days. This was almost a milestone in my life because it meant two things:




 1. That I would be living with my cousin, his landlord and another flatmate in a house in London that I'd never been to before.


 2. That I had the exciting opportunity to visit, observe and learn from a deaf school, a school that promotes bilingual philosophy, meaning they teach BSL and English equally.




So, the time rolled around so much quicker than I expected, much like this whole PGCE course. I found myself on the train heading to London. Just to point out, I love London. Whether its intended or not, it has subtitles almost everywhere. On the train, on the tube, on the bus, I didn't have to worry about missing my stop because the electronic information boards reassured me every other minute, subtitling the tannoy for me. The bus stop outside of Kings Cross had writing, just to tell me that there would be a bus in literally 2 minutes of waiting (this is most definitely not the Norfolk Way).


 Wednesday morning I arrived at the school, unsure what to expect. It was a small school, much smaller than anything I had seen before. In the Nursery and Reception there was no more than 6 children in each with 1:1 staff and TAs as-well as the teachers. I almost worried myself into thinking there wouldn't be much to do with all this staff and support, how wrong was I?


 Looking around the school it was very clear how much they promoted and respected their bilingual philosophy, all the displays had English and BSL signs, a good majority of the staff were profoundly deaf themselves, all staff whether hearing or deaf could sign, BSL classes were highly advertised throughout the school. I'd never seen such a school where I could feel so involved and welcomed from day one. Every conversation I could be a part of whether I wanted to or not, there were no hidden agendas, no hidden or lost conversations.
  The children, the beautiful children using their hands to communicate and their open eyes innocently gazing, interpreting and communicating. Their voice, their language, a different world.

Stories were signed to the children, a different perspective, dramatic, intriguing and exciting, a story that could never be portrayed quite the same in English.
 The ones that wore hearing aids or Cochlear Implants quite often made their own little noises, some could talk quite clearly and others were just learning, making sense of their noises, their voice.


 My seven days at the deaf school went by just as quickly as they came. I learnt so much. I learnt about a world where deaf children could grow up and feel as valued and loved as mainstream children do. A world where they could be supported, taught visually, seeing the beauty in the movement of our hands rather than the sound of our voices. I learnt that telling them that I wore hearing aids just like some of them, I was automatically accepted.
I was no longer different, I was the same, the same, the same.

 “Deaf people can do anything, except hear.”

King Jordan (Former President of Gallaudet University)

Continuing the dream.. by Eleanor

So I'm around 2 months into my PGCE training course. And what a 2 months its been.

The first three weeks were spent at UEA Monday-Friday 9-5 with 3 hour seminars, 2 hour lectures and only 1 hour lunches. It was exhausting. The support I have at the university is my note-taker and the use of my radio aid.
 I've learnt to love my radio aid - it really does help make the lecturer loud and clear and for the first time ever in my life there has been times when I can actually break eye contact with someone and still hear what they're saying even though they are miles away in the front of the lecture theatre. I don't do it too often though - it doesn't take too long before I've lost track of the context and start drifting into a fantasy land with rainbows and bubbles and pretty pink ribbons. Not because you're bored of course, but the learning environment is tough with bouts of 3 hour seminars to try and absorb info... It tends to make you sleepy...

 I do still struggle, some seminars are more about group conversations and I gave up with those a long time ago. You're put in 'small' groups around 25-30 people (somedays you're mixed up so its more like 55-60) and questions are opened to the class. Yeah, because thats exactly what deaf people like to do, constantly straining their neck round to possibly catch a glimpse of whoever it is thats talking and try to lip-read them. Thats if, of course, you can work out who is talking, and theres no awkwardly positioned head right in your way. I especially love it when everyone starts laughing and you're just sat there thinking of the multiple things you could be doing instead of this, compiling mental lists in your head of things to do when you get home and getting increasingly frustrated and stressed that you're still missing out. And you most definitely do not want to be that 'deaf girl' who needs everything repeating.
 The first time I had a science lesson it was brilliant. People stood up and faced me when they had something to say. I caught every word and yeah it was embarrassing for a while but I felt included. It didn't take long for that to stop, people forgot and carry on with their lives as hearing people. I get it, its not like I walk around with a big advertising board saying 'deaf person walking here', and people start to think 'oh she looked at me then so she must have heard me' - most the time I'm just looking because I'm thinking 'shes got a nice top on today' or some other random thought that goes through my head because I've completely lost track of whats going on.

 P.S. I love it when people say 'I just forget you're deaf' and I've mastered my response - 'Yeah, me too, I'm always forgetting that..' - its totally a joke people, don't be offended. People say they can't laugh at things like that.. I made a joke about not being able to sing because I'm literally tone deaf.. one of my friends made a complete pained-face, unsure whether he was allowed to laugh.. please, laugh! One of lifes pleasures, being able to make jokes out of a bad situation (in good taste of course!!) - watch 'See no evil, hear no evil' and roll about with laughter like I did :)

 I started school placements a few weeks ago and the school is absolutely brilliant, lovely school - I really enjoy being there. The problem lies with me. I can't always hear the children and they're the ones I really want to hear. I get so wrapped up in my own little world of 'must be able to hear everything - its all important' and when I can't do that and I especially see hearing people taking it for granted it burns up rage in my chest.
I love teaching and I love being in front of the class but I feel inadequate at the moment because I can't hear their responses back. My teaching partner sometimes translates for me by wearing the radio aid and repeating back what they've said which is brilliant but its not her job to do that - she should never feel responsible for my hearing - she is a student aswell and deserves to be able to clock off and observe someone else working rather than having to support.

 The solution is to have a communicator, someone to be my ears for me. If I had that missing piece I would be much more confident in the classroom. The children themselves in the classroom are starting to get used to me and my needs and because I'm getting used to their voices I can sometimes pick up what they're saying without support. This is a skill I'm hoping will develop over the next few months.

I know I want to be a teacher of the deaf in the future and this is the start of the road. This year is my training year and this is the time to find out what I need in the classroom to be the best I can be. My real problem is that I'm so impatient and want everything now.
I want to be the best I can be right now.

To all readers.. this blog-post is a reflection of my feelings and my opinions at this time. In no way is it a reflection on other people. I do not expect complete deaf awareness and equal access on a plate because it is a hidden disability, and I do often wear my hair down for that very reason. The words I write come from my heart in an attempt to help both deaf and hearing people exactly what it is like in my little world (a very, very, very, very tiny part of the world as we know it). Things can be exaggerated in my world because it is mine, and it is what I live in daily, and it can be hard to find the words to fit exactly into my feelings.. I will always try to be honest and that may become misinterpreted along the way.. this is never intentional, I have nothing but respect for the people I am surrounded by and I hope that our learning journey about each other continues.

P.S. I miss you dad x