My Life Without Hearing Blog 1

I’d like to give you a little bit of background about myself. I was born and bred in Burton-upon-Trent, where I still live to this day. My parents were both hearing and I was their only child. They had no reason to expect that I may be deaf. Of course, now we have new born hearing tests so deaf babies are diagnosed straight away, but at that time things were very different, so I was not diagnosed until I was one year old. 

My diagnosis

 My mum was a very chatty person, but noticed that I didn’t seem to respond to her talking to me. Then one day when I was walking in the garden, my mum tried calling my name, but I didn’t turn around. That’s when she decided to take me to the GP. I was then referred to a hospital in Manchester so my dad had to drive us all the way there for my appointments. It was there that they confirmed that I was deaf. 

 This was naturally a huge shock to my parents, who didn’t know any deaf people. For them it raised a lot of questions about what the future would hold for me, and what would I be able to achieve as I grew up? My parents asked about learning British Sign Language, but sadly at that time parents were advised not to sign with their children, and to make their children speak and lip read instead.

My early education

 You may wonder how I came to be a British Sign Language (BSL) user and tutor. Like many deaf people, I didn’t see sign language at home. It wasn’t until I was 3 and went to nursery at the Royal Institute for the Deaf and Dumb Derby, as it was known at that time, that I started to see sign language and pick it up myself. The teacher would use basic sign language to teach us, and also other children there would use British Sign Language. 

 I still remember the old school building in Friargate, and how as a small child the huge old building with its large wooden doors seemed very daunting. I also remember it being very cold. 

 The school was mostly residential at that time, but I was very lucky that my mum was adamant she wanted me to live at home and travel to school every day. This took some time to achieve, but it was eventually agreed. 

 Best of both worlds

 My mum thought it was important for me to mix with hearing children and experience the hearing world, so that I could mix with the wider community. I know the other children felt that it was fun to live in together, but I enjoyed sleeping in my own bed and eating my mum’s home cooked food. The food at the school wasn’t very nice. 

 Look out for my next post where I will explain more about my education and growing up as a deaf person.