“Your child is deaf” – words parents of a newborn or toddler definitely never expect to hear. Their reaction, whether they themselves are Deaf or hearing, is usually one of shock, anger, fear, grief and confusion.

Statistics show that people with a hearing loss on average are more likely to be unemployed, under employed or paid less than their hearing counterparts. However with just a little thought and consideration people with a hearing loss are productive employees.

Most people take their ears for granted. After all you were born with them and just like our eyes or mouth your hearing ability developed without you even thinking about it. Most of us never stop to consider what it would be like if our hearing stopped working.

Surely when sign language was being developed it would have been sensible to have a universal language? That might seem logical but in reality it isn’t.

When communication difficulties exist human interaction stops and without human interaction we feel alone.

When someone gets hearing aids they don't become a hearing aid advocate and join a group telling people about their experience. Yet Cochlear Implantees often become Advocates. I wondered why?

‘I’ve had a cochlea implant. I know what sound is. I know what speech is. So why can’t I hear straight away? And how can I explain this to my family and friends?’ For those of us who’ve gone deaf and had a cochlea implant these are questions we hear all the time.

I cannot remember hearing with two ears and now I am considering bi-lateral cochlear implantation. I wanted to know what I could expect by hearing with two ears.

I was born to hear. I learned language at my mother’s knee and attended main stream schools. I had everything going for me and deafness didn't even enter into it. The sense of loss was enormous and I almost lost myself.

I had been living deaf for about 10 years when I decided I had to do something about it