Cambridgeshire woman says fellow deaf people bullied her for not using sign language
As our voices rely so heavily on our ability to hear, deaf people can face complex communication barriers, as ITV News Anglia's Aaron Mayhew reports.
A deaf woman who speaks instead of using sign language says she has experienced abuse and bullying from others in the deaf community for doing so.
Amelia Jane North, from Brampton in Cambridgeshire, was born deaf, with hearing aids and speech and language therapy helping her to use her voice from a young age.
Despite having a so-called "deaf voice", Ms North said the abuse she has suffered has not come from the hearing community, but the deaf community instead.
"When I went to deaf college they bullied me really badly because I could speak," Ms North said.
"From their perspective I wasn't deaf because they expect 'you're deaf, you can't talk, you should rely on sign language'.
"It made me feel worthless. I was only good enough for them if they wanted to go to the pub and speak to the bar person and get them a drink."
'Massive isolation'
Cambridgeshire Deaf Association (CDA) has regular meetings with Ms North about how she can be supported, as well as supporting hundreds of other deaf people in the county.
Poppy Casselden-Stone, a case worker at CDA, said: “The deaf community is amazing, they have each other, they have sign language to communicate.
"Being stuck in the middle means that you find it difficult to communicate with the hearing world but also with the deaf world, and that can be really challenging and cause massive isolation.”
Ms North's speaking has improved significantly in the last two years, mainly due to a cochlear implant being installed as her hearing aids were no longer effective.
Cochlear implants are fitted to the skull through surgery and work by turning sound into electrical signals and sending them to part of the inner ear called the cochlea.
The implant has been life-changing for Ms North, as muffled sounds are now much clearer and she has been able to hear her own voice for the first time in her life.
“I could hear a clock, so I had to take the battery out because it was irritating me. I'd never heard that tick-tock," said Ms North.
"And birds, and a cat meowing.
“When I heard my own voice for the first time it was scary. I thought I would speak stupidly, but it turns out I quite like my voice.”
Communication barriers
In the UK an estimated 12 million people have some form of hearing loss, but according to a survey by the National Institute for Deaf People, over half of adults (59%) don’t feel confident talking to deaf people.
The same survey revealed one in 10 would avoid communication with deaf people altogether.
Cambridgeshire Deaf Association runs lip reading classes for those losing their hearing through its Hearing Help scheme, which it says can help to reduce communication barriers.
Service manager Su Fletcher said: “It’s a great support network for people to come together because they will all have hearing loss and they will all be wearing hearing aids and they can come together to discuss issues and concerns and how they’ve overcome any particular problem.”
In September, Ms North is starting a college course in hairdressing, which she hopes will put her speech skills to the test.
"You have to speak and use banter. I'm excited because I love doing my hair, though it's making me feel a bit old going back to college," she said.
Throughout the year, ITV News Anglia's Speechless series is telling stories of the importance of communication, and how people overcome adversity to connect with each other.
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