Sami & Katie's Story
"Being deaf during lockdown has been incredibly trying. On a typical day, lip reading and the use of hearing aids disguises the lack of awareness in others and the intolerance. The wearing of masks has been frustrating, upsetting and at times provokes anger. It makes me frustrated that people are ignorant towards my communication needs even though I wear a mask with big silver writing on stating that I am a lip reader. Upsetting because it makes me feel second class and anger that I am made to feel this way. I must admit that I have been lucky, I have stuck to my local shops when I need to shop who know me and do accommodate my communication needs, but there is always the odd few."
"I have struggled most within my work environment. I work in the health and social care sector as a healthcare assistant, my manager and colleagues have been amazing but at times people do forget, it happens (even after 22 years my husband forgets sometimes) the company I work for is different, I feel like I have had a constant battle for even the smallest things."
"The wearing of a mask myself has proved problematic at times too, I find using ear savers get tangled with my aids and uncomfortable, I used to wear a headband with buttons but over time I felt like it was squashing my aids between my ears and head giving my headaches. I now wear them normal, but I have blister hot spots where the elastic and aid rub against my ear. It feels like a lose-lose situation." - Sami
​
My experience with face masks has been very stressful and I try to avoid going out due to the anxiety of not knowing what people are saying. I am still in secondary school so we have to wear them in school, and it gets very lonely as everyone else can communicate and I can’t, luckily my teachers wear clear panel face masks but even still it creates anxiety as everyone in the room knows it’s because of me. I think that my mental health has got worse due to this 100%. I have only really coped because of having family with me in shops etc but it is annoying and upsetting to know that I have lost quite a bit of independence due to this. I think a huge part of the problem is the lack of deaf awareness, I personally had one incident where I told someone I was deaf, and they told me that I should be learning how to hear. - Katie