I had worn hearing aids all my life but seven years ago I was subjected to some awful abuse that destroyed my confidence and drove me away from the hearing world.
The fact that I wore hearing aids and used sign was the reason my abusers targeted me. My abusers held vibrating mobile phones to my head. They shouted in my ears while I was wearing my hearing aids. They even pushed me in front of cars when I waited to cross the road.
I got so frustrated at the situation I wanted to smash my hearing aids into a thousand pieces. I ran away from the bullies and took my hearing aids out. I haven’t worn them since but I still have them, in the same box, untouched. I learned to be me, as nature intended, with no aids.
Now seven years on, I wanted to go back to using hearing aids again even though that I’d grown up and learnt to be me, deaf me. I lived so long pretending not to be deaf when I was younger.
There is a big deaf world out there and being part of it gave me a purpose. I only wish I discovered it as a child because maybe I wouldn’t have felt so alone. I grew up in a wonderful place but pushed a lot of people away because I couldn’t understand them and just didn’t know how to tell them.
That was then and this is now. I’m going to take that step again and try hearing aids again. The world is a different, more accepting place.
I was so excited to be going to my first audiology appointment in years. I was almost dancing on the way there, imagining meeting some other deafies and enjoying a chat. I’m not naive. I know that deaf people need interpreters in hospitals but not in audiology, right?
Wrong.
‘So, you don’t sign?’ I signed at the three ladies at the reception desk. They all stare blankly back. I’m wondering if I’m in the right place but one lady points to another lady sitting next to her and suggests I speak to her. ‘I’m here for my deaf test’ I say. ‘Hearing test’ that receptionist replies. ‘No, I’m deaf’ I couldn’t help myself from saying. Their faces were a picture.
A nurse appears but I can’t see her face; I saw the doors open but she stood the other side of the wall. She pokes her head round and mouths very slowly ‘AMANDA’. Oh Lord, Mother of all Cakes, I’m thinking.
She was a sweet lady, really tried to make herself understood and pointed to her name and then towards the doors. I was introduced to an almost impossibly young male audiologist, but still, no one can sign.
During the test I sign and speak at the same time and the young audiologist looks confused. Looking away from the computer screen he broke from the normal script. “Why do you sign? Your speech is good for someone with your level of hearing loss” he said.
“I’m confused” I said. “Why don’t you sign if your job is working with deaf people.”
“I’m a scientist” he replied.
“That’s not what I asked” I said.
He looked back at the screen without answering. I sat with him and asked him why he is an audiologist if he doesn’t understand deaf people and their ways or language. He can’t sign and only tries to fix people rather than learn more or embrace and teach. I hope I gave the young chap some food for thought.
I was so naive to think just because I had grown into my Deaf skin that others will understand or that the world has changed and kept up with deaf awareness or sign language.
I thought that with today’s knowledge of the importance of integrating peoples, cultures and languages, British sign Language would actually be our second language here in the UK by now.
We would have deaf staff in places like audiology departments or at least people trained to use sign language. But no, in fact it is the opposite and that’s something I find extremely sad.
When the time came to collect my new hearing aids, I was blown away at the choice of different devices and the colour range too. This time, I met a different audiologist and she was super at her job, but again, no understanding of BSL. Not even the basics.
In fact, to communicate with me, she programmed some other aids very quickly and popped them in my ears to explain what she was going to do. She wasn’t to know I hadn’t worn aids for over seven years.
And there, at that moment, I sat in tears because her voice was the first I had heard in all that time. Signing or not, I got what I came for.
By Amanda Jane Richards is a photographer, actress and sign language teacher. She’s also a mum of three and can be found talking about her life in Ted Evans documentary From Us To You
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bozothewondernerd
March 27, 2014
A copy of this should be sent to every Audiology Department in the country – how on Earth has it come to pass that, time and again, Audiology Departments are shown to be one of the most Deaf-unfriendly places in the country? We live in a strange society! (If any one DOES know of a Deaf-friendly Audiology Department then, please, sing their praises here – we desperately need some positive role models to hold up to the majority and show them what is possible – not that it’s rocket-science.)
Barakta
March 27, 2014
So true. One of my childhood audiology departments only had one person who could sign, a hearing therapist released 1 afternoon a week for BSL level 2 classes. I did my yr 10 work experience with them and it was noticeable the hearing therapist was the only person who seemed to understand deaf identity as a positive thing. One client came in who signed and the hearing therapist signed back. I didn’t know very much sign then.
The rest were actually anti-sign to the point that they told me I’d damage my speech because I passed my BSL2 a few years later. My mum was livid with them, studying for her ToD course she was able to cite lots of evidence at them that signing enhances communication skills in deaf people.
I think one issue is they only deal with a tiny number of signers, even those of us who are deaf-while-young are a teeeny number. Of course here we regularly discuss how un deaf aware audiologies can be, how many of us are put off hearing aids by this first hurdle of lack of clue about deafness as a positive thing. It wouldn’t be difficult for at least one member of staff to sign and for people booking appointments to be able to request either someone who can sign to level 3 or something or an interpreter…
I’ve been with a few audiologies now, and it’s notable the ones which respect deaf people as deaf and the ones who see us a fixable with hearing aids like magic tadaaaa. My current one shows a lot of clue, they have specialists for severe/profoundly deaf people who are having difficulties getting hearing aids to work. I don’t know if any of them sign, I shall ask them, I know their staff look you in the eye and don’t talk to their computers tho!
Barbars De Lacy Savage
March 27, 2014
I too recently went to hospital with my 30 year old deaf step son as he wanted to try hearing aids again. He had also not tried them since childhood. I was amazed that no one in the audiology dept signed. The communication technique was to shout!!! What can I say.
LJ.
March 27, 2014
You have to admit that it’s a funny old world. Both my wife and I are profoundly deaf and cochlear implant users. Neither of us sign properly, just rubbishy personal signs I suppose. None of our kids (4) were brought us as signers. One daughter who is an nhs/private audiologist does not sign but another daughter does some basic sign stuff.
Richard... theman@thebackofthegarage
March 27, 2014
I have only been going to the audiologist over the last two years, so my experience is a bit limited, but I don’t think I have ever seen anyone sign there? I’ve seen signers, but always with someone else!?
It was suggested that I might like to look into learning BSL, but they didn’t offer any help there. The BID did help and I’m learning to sign now, or I should say trying. I’m also attending the DC there too, which a great help!
One final note; When looking at the options to learn signing, I bought a few DVD from the SignLanguage people and then contacted John Lee, who I think was on See Hear, about other DVDs available and that he would recommend. The reply was a big surprise, he said that he wasn’t sure if signing was right for me! I think one of the problems is that less people seem to be signing and the promotion of it! Surely we should support Signing as a language to learn whenever someone shows a keenness. Maybe then we can help to turn this crazy situation where we seem to be heading back into the world of isolation!?
I hope all is well Amanda?
Amanda Jane Richards
March 27, 2014
Hi, Thank you everyone for taking the time out to read and also reply. Firstly for me, learning to sign has opened up my world as has mixing with other deaf people. Until I did I sometimes, a lot of the time felt left out and maybe even lonely if honest. Its not that people didn’t try to make the effort to include me, its just the fact I’m deaf and can’t hear. Main stream school was a total nightmare!
Wearing hearing aids doesn’t make you hearing, they are aids to help you hear more than you naturally can. So for me learning to sign was a big thing. You can’t always wear your aids or rely on them to relay all the sounds you need to hear to follow even just a conversation etc. So Sign language made sense to me.
When I sign and talk, I find a lot more people seem to be more understanding at the fact I am deaf. If I talk only, because I have clear voice people don’t know. I get asked all the time if I have lost my voice. I’m so tempted to say,
“Yes it ran away with my hearing”
The logical thinking behind learning to sign is, well naturally I am deaf, deaf people sign to communicate, not rocket science is it! Take the aids out BOOM, deafie… No pointing learning to shout is there, or trying to learn to be hearing, better to learn to be yourself, cope, learn to communicate and not have to reply on electronic devices.
So, hearing aids. Made to enhance hearing for deaf/ HOH people. But sometimes to me it equally feels like they are there so hearing people can communicate with deaf people more easy. Without the need to use sign language.
When visiting the audiology department recently, yes I was very disappointed at not having one member of staff that could sign. I not only think it is very rude of them but professionally I think its absolutely outrageous, to say the least.
Audiologist are the first port of call for a deaf person, a child! So can you imagine what it is like for us to arrive and no one ‘speaks our language’ not even the basic signs like hearing aids, hearing test.
My audiologist, as great at her job as she was, has absolutely no understanding what is it like to be deaf. Programming aids quickly/ temporary just to pop them in my ears so she could explain what she was going to do that day. Hmmm I haven’t had hearing aids for 7 years and coped fine thank you. Then that realisation that they were not for my benefit, but for hers. How sad is that. Half of me wanted to say, don’t worry, actually I don’t want them thank you.
When she saw me crying when she turned the aids on, she then realised. I did explain to her that maybe a better way forward was a gentle progression rather than, pop these little babies in and switch on full beam!
My next step is to send a copy of this letter to the audiology department but also offer them basic sign language & deaf awareness classes.
Hearing aids are great tools, I love my new ones. But I also love being me too. without having to plug myself in. Mixing with other deaf people, learning to sign, learning that you fit into a culture where you actually feel comfortable and its easy to communicate is also what you should be learning and getting for audiology departments. Its about the whole package.
*Smiles*
Amanda Jane Richards
Martyn
March 27, 2014
I’m no expert, but I would expect most audiologists and people who work in audiology departments to have studied various forms of communication as part of their training and qualifications. They need to be able to communicate with people of all levels of hearing loss. Perhaps this flags up a need for refresher courses? If people are not confident or rusty in BSL for example, they are less likely to use it and will get rustier still.
Hartmut
March 28, 2014
I picked up a story in Germany of a prominent ENT professor (in Germany they use ENT doctors, teachers of the deaf, and hearing aid dealers for audiological tests) in the great city of Munich, who screamed at a hard-of-hearing father who both speaks and signs well, but stopped wearing his hearing aids for years. He was bringing his hard-of-hearing daughter to assess her inability to hear (observe, I don’t use the term “hearing loss”!). The professor screamed at him, he was irresponsible not to wear hearing aids and for using sign language with her. The story has been verified by friends of this father. So it was an actual event.
Just imagine, what ethics the professor practiced, who refused to acknowledge and support one’s right to be deaf and become Deaf. She was adamant that if someone who still can hear some MUST continue to hear all the mumbo-jumbos, noises and all what a diminished hearing could deliver, and claimed, our quality of life has been diminished for not being able to listen to music, bird’s singing, and hear our children’s voices.
The behavior of professionals in the field of deafness who refuse to learn sign language must be regarded as an example of audism and deserves to be displayed as an example among many others in the museum of audistic behaviors. They cannot plead ignorance.
Even though the need to use sign language in their work is minimal, audiologists ought to learn it as a matter of solidarity to the Deaf community and to express their suppport of Deaf existence in the society as a matter of humanity.
Stephen J Butler
March 28, 2014
I worked in a deaf organisation for several years, teaching deaf adults English, maths, driving theory, did some translation & interpreting work too. One day, after several weeks of teaching a ‘hearing’ lady of deaf parents, I was informed to cease teaching her after this on grounds of her not being deaf, YET the lady had informed me that she has been slowly losing her hearing as a result of born to deaf parents, maybe genetically. I objected to this decision to stop on grounds of where were they drawing the line on deafness since NO one has perfect hearing at all. They backed down on their decision.