This week is Deaf Awareness Week.
From the 6 to 12 May the week aims to increase the understanding of the challenges people in the deaf community face.
Experiencing temporary hearing loss
Between the ages of four and five years old I had recurring problems with multiple ear infections which began with some difficulty with my hearing and then led to temporary hearing loss. Luckily for me my hearing problems were fixed with Grommets, which is a small tube that was placed in both my ears during surgery used to keep the eardrums open. These naturally fell out by themselves between 6 and 12 months later and I have not had any problems with my hearing since…although my mum likes to joke that I went from not being able to hear as a child, to selective hearing instead in my teenage years!
Minor hearing problems like recurring infections, build up of fluid and blockages in the canal known as ‘glue ear’ can be quite common in children and like my own childhood hearing problems, the majority can be resolved fairly quickly. But for the 12 million people living in the UK with some form of hearing loss, deafness is a part of everyday life.
According to the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) 1 in 5 people in the UK are currently deaf or hard of hearing, and by 2035 they estimate there will be around 14.2 million adults with hearing loss. People with hearing loss can use subtitles to access audio visual content on TV, in the cinema and when watching videos on social media, however they can face social exclusion when trying to communicate with other people which can negatively impact their education, employment and wellbeing.
So why should we all be more deaf aware?
Recently I learned more about one of Action Hampshire’s members #wesupportdeafawareness. Set up by Simon Houghton during the pandemic as a direct response to the difficulties he had as a deaf individual trying to communicate with others who did not understand the challenges associated with deafness at this time. I realised that whilst the introduction of wearing masks was an adjustment for us all, it was a huge barrier to someone who is deaf who relied on lip reading and needing to see others faces to help them communicate. Although now four years on the majority of people have returned to not wearing masks, it led me to read Simon’s list of other tips we could all do for being more deaf aware in everyday life.
Simple things such as:
- …not obstructing your mouth when you talk
- …not turning your back so someone can’t clearly see your face and
- …also speaking at normal speed to help with lip reading made me realise how such simple things could really make a difference to someone who is deaf to understand or communicate better with you.
Can we do more?
Taking Simon’s tips on board it got me thinking, is there more I could do?
Sign language is something I’ve always said I’d like to learn, but had never got further than it just being an idea. So in the lead up to Deaf Awareness Week I decided to finally sign myself up for a beginners online course to get me started. In the UK it is estimated that sign language is currently used by 151,000 people, with 87,000 of those being deaf. I’m at the start of my learning journey, only just be getting to grips with finger spelling the alphabet and learning basic words, but it’s a step in the right direction.
British Sign Language was recognised as a language in its own right in 2003 but only legally became an official language of Britain in 2022! However it was also announced in December that British Sign Language will be taught as a GSCE in England from September 2025, this will play a huge part in fostering a more inclusive and understanding society for the deaf community going forward.
Follow this link to learn more about #wesupportdeafawareness
