Bridging the Gap Between the Hearing & Deaf Worlds
Do you have the habit of apologising for not being able to hear someone and you end saying “sorry” because you feel that it’s your fault.
Don’t worry if that applies to you, as I am also very guilty of saying the above and more over the years.
And personally, I believe should all stop over-apologising, as it having negative consequences to our lives.
For most, if not all d/Deaf and hard of hearing people, social events can be an awkward one and a difficult one at the same time.
If everyone is talking and the environment is not right, then it’s very easy to feel secluded and left alone.
But what if you, as a hearing person, want to prevent that? How can you help to make a d/Deaf/hard of hearing person feel included, at least as much as possible?
Some of the topics that have been discussed here on this site are around mental health, concentration fatigue and deaf anxiety.
These are also the posts that have been getting a lot of attention lately, especially the latter.
But you also need to look after yourself, and this is why in this podcast, I talk about the importance of being selfish just so you can look after yourself.
Because if you don’t look after yourself, you can’t look after other people.
I’ve read a few tweets a while back where there is a common trend where the hearing person in question either walks away because they can’t be bothered, are scared or they stands still and ignores the d/Deaf individual.
You’d think that it can’t get worse or more ridiculous than that, but it can. If only they learnt some simple tips on how to get over that.
It seems that many people are confused on what deaf can do and can’t do. A simple Google search starting with “can deaf people…” will bring up a list of search suggestions that seems very…interesting (which you can see in the shownote).
So I thought this would be a good time to talk about what d/Deaf people can do and dispel any myths that anyone may have about us.
Deaf vs hard of hearing. What’s the difference and what am I?
It’s a very common question that I hear all the time. Well, 1) it is different, and 2) it’s very different.
What do I mean by that? Check it out below.
In episode 4 of the podcast, it’s a solo show with yours truly and I talk about the furore around an upcoming movie featuring a deaf character by played a hearing actress
The director has claimed that she signed perfectly and “seems to have an almost innate sense of what it’s like being a deaf person”.
Read or listen to the story about this director’s comment here
Due to how I was brought up and the fact that my hearing loss is not as severe as others, I haven’t surrounded myself with those who are going through the same thing.
And as for being part of the Deaf community, well I’m working on it.
Because of that, it means that most of the people I interact with are of perfect or near-perfect hearing.
So I have put together a view on 16 things I would like my hearing friends to know.
Having lived with a mild hearing loss since I was a baby, throughout that time, I have heard some weird and wonderful things from my hearing.
Sure, there are some reasonable questions that you can ask which I don’t mind answering.
But it’s the weird things that I think will get everyone interested, so I thought of putting together a video some of the weirdest and also unhelpful things that have been said to me.
