I was diagnosed with severe deafness at the age of three; I am now severely-profoundly deaf. I was educated in a variety of different settings: in a specialist unit within a mainstream school; fully integrated into mainstream with technological support; at a boarding school for deaf children. This has given me an insight into the range of support mechanisms that may be used—or indeed are suitable—across  different environments and settings. My understanding was deepened when I trained as a teacher of secondary history. Then I had to consider not only my own needs, but—more importantly—those of my pupils, some of whom were themselves affected by a variety of additional needs. PGCE introduced me to the concept of accessibility for all—when you make a topic accessible for one ‘special need’, you are also making it accessible to everyone.

While at university I contributed to the delivery of deaf awareness training to lecturers and tutors working with deaf and hard of hearing students. I also ran a very basic class in British Sign Language/deaf awareness for my hearing peers. In recent years I have acted as a volunteer facilitator at residential rehabilitation weekends run by Hearing Dogs for Deaf People/Hearing Link. These are aimed primarily at people with acquired hearing loss, and their (hearing) significant others. The purpose of the rehab weekends is to provide individuals with AHL with the skills needed to navigate life as a deaf person; they also provide critically important contact with other people who are deaf/hard of hearing.