Hi, I was born hearing. Then when I was 10 years old I had a rugby accident where I got a bang on the head and lost my hearing. Six months later they gave me a hearing aid in one ear but I was still deaf in the other ear.
Then later in my life I started to lose more hearing. In my 30’s I got involved with the What? Club. A club for Deaf and hearing (impaired) people. That was the first time I met other Deaf people. I realised I needed to learn to communicate better and how because I was withdrawing from the hearing world.
I started learning sign language, it was hard but people were very patience with me which was great. I still got a bit embarrassed going out in public, having hearing people watch me sign but I overcame that, so now….
Twenty years ago I received a cochlear implant and now I believe I have the best of both worlds – I can communicate with both hearing plus Deaf people. I feel proud to have that ability to communicate in both worlds.
Thank you
