emmabatchelor

Hi, I'm Emma (22)! I graduated from uni last summer and I am currently finishing law school before starting as a trainee solicitor. I was born with hearing conditions, and my hearing has progressively worsened over time. I wear bilateral hearing aids and I have always relied on lip reading. I'm excited to learn BSL in my (very sparse!) free time, and I've recently moved away from home, so I'm always willing to chat to new people.

I'm learning BSL for myself and to be able to communicate with others in a similar situation. I've grown up deaf - I had 2 grommets operations as a child and was told to start wearing HA until I grew out of my condition (approx 18 months)... Fast forward 12 years and they realised I also had a deteriorating sensorineural condition, so my hearing gets progressively worse. I wear bilateral hearing aids and increasingly rely on lip reading, but it's not always possible, especially with the current mask wearing, and frankly it's exhausting. I'm 'lucky' in that I can talk and communicate well, and I'm intelligent so I've found ways of adapting, meaning I often get told I "'don't seem deaf" (whatever that means!). Although I'm grateful to not be treated as incapable, this attitude makes it so hard for me to actually be myself around people, I always have to work to hear and it can be really difficult when people don't understand that I actually do struggle. So I'm learning BSL in the hope of being able to communicate with more people, to make my own life easier for those days that I don't have the energy to try to hear and lip read, and to make the world that bit more accessible for so many people.