I'm going deaf

[Zoe Bowes]

The reason I'm doing this course is to familiarise myself with the basics of BSL. I am profoundly deaf in my left ear from a severe ear infection when I was 8 years old. My right ear has got worse  since the start of the year, I have started to wear a hearing aid to help me. I enrolled onto my B.A. honours degree in teaching and learning support yesterday and spoke with a lovely lecturer who is fluent in sign. Everyone at the campus was wearing masks as well as being behind a perplex screen.... this massively renders me to hear anything.. When telling her that I suffer from Asthma, depression, anxiety and an hearing impairment she took off her mask immediately. She then asked if I knew sign, I replied with no as I didn't need it however, it got me thinking 'what if'. What if i do eventually go completely deaf.. I'm going to feel more isolated than ever. So here I am learning for my sake and potentially for my job. I'm currently a specialist Teaching assistant, carrying out interventions aimed at children with speech and language difficulties, my ultimate aim is to train to become a Speech and Language therapist. I am on the  waiting list to have a cochlea implant but at the moment I have been told I am too young. There's my story, if you have any questions please ask away.