Amy S and Myself (also called Amy) have many conversations together in between our meetings talking about our own experiences of deafness. The one thing that is really important to Living with Hearing Loss is that the people behind the project in as many aspects as possible are led by D/deaf people for D/deaf people.
Here me and Amy S wanted to share with you an insight to one of our many conversations that we have together and this one is about our experiences at school.
To ensure you don’t get confused with who’s talking, Amy M is the founder/Creator of LWHL(Living with Hearing Loss) and Amy S is our Social Media Consultant for LWHL and wears a Cochlear Implant.
What type of school did you go to?
AM: For my primary and middle school I went to a mainstream school and for my secondary school I went to a school that was mainstream with a small deaf unit.
AS: I went to mainstream primary, junior and senior school, with no deaf units. This was a decision my parents had to make, mainstream or deaf school? They chose mainstream as they thought that by mixing with hearing people, this would be better for me. (There was no right or wrong choice for this!)
Were you the only one with hearing loss at school?
AM: In both my nursery, primary and middle school yes! I was and I was the only deaf student in my year at my secondary school. There were a couple of pupils in the years above me who had mixed levels of deafness though. We would meet at the start of the day to collect our phonic ears which we would then hand out to our teachers for different lessons.
AS: Throughout my school journey, I was the only fully deaf student however, at primary and junior school, there was one other pupil with a hearing aid. At senior school, there were a couple of other students with hearing aids, but I was the only person with a CI. We had a ‘deaf club’ where we met up once every half term to discuss any issues we had, and to support each other.
Did you use an aids in lessons or have any help in classes?
AM: I have two hearing aids and a Phonic ear which would act like a microphone for the teacher. The teacher would wear a box with a microphone attached to their tie or top and the student would also wear a box with attachments to the hearing aids. This would heighten the sound and produce it straight to the ear. I also had a support worker who supported me in class from Primary through to Collage.
I was very lucky with one particular Support Worker and she supported me through middle,secondary and college! This was very unusual and during that time there were some ups and downs. She is a lovely lady and became a real source of great support to me. We have kept in touch and recently met up. It was a pretty special meeting. I have so much love for her and gratitude for how she supported me in my classwork but more so the tough times that can come with being deaf at secondary school. We are good friends now and have kept in touch!
AS: I had a Radio Aid that I wore throughout my time at school, and the teacher would wear the accompanying microphone so that I could hear the lessons clearly. There were a few incidents of teachers forgetting that they were wearing my microphone and would leave the class to go to the toilet; I’d end up hearing things that I didn’t want to hear!
For primary and secondary school, I had many lovely teacher assistants who would sit alongside me in lessons and support me. These ladies were instrumental to my time at school and I genuinely believe I wouldn’t have done as well at school without their support.
At senior school, for the first few years, I had a lovely TA who supported me with schoolwork and in lessons. I’m still in contact with her on Facebook! Once I started my GCSEs, I stopped having as much support as I felt comfortable with my hearing in classrooms, but the TA office was always open if I needed help or wanted someone to talk to.
Did you find school life hard and did you experience any negativity at school from other students?
AM: So I was lucky in middle school in that I made a best friend who was born 2 days apart from me and we shared everything together plus we had a lovely group of mutual friends.
It was a hard transition moving to a different school for secondary as I had to go onto a school that was more suited for my needs and that meant leaving all my much loved friends behind, but I was introduced to some really gorgeous girls who took me into their friendship circle.
These girls had come from a mainstream primary school with a deaf unit and so had fantastic deaf awareness, most of the children in the school did because they had also come from another local primary school.
I’m so relieved to say I wasn’t bullied, but maybe wasn’t included in all social circles at the school, however I was happy with my kind friends. I was with the kind kids and although things were largely good with friendships I still wanted to fit in and be accepted by more people at the school, so, as the years went on I felt I stood out alot with having to wear the phonic ear, and towards the end of my secondary school year I started to rebel, which wasn’t great!
On reflection I understand these are all normal emotions for a teenager but it is one of my reasons why I launched a hearing aid jewellery campaign 2 years ago – to send a big message to those who might be struggling with fitting in – why fit in when you can stand out!
We are all unique and beautiful in our own ways, no one is the same and I encourage all young people including my own children to celebrate their differences as this is what makes us unique and beautiful!
AS: I struggled throughout the years as I sometimes felt lonely as I was the only completely deaf student and the only CI user at school, so despite the lovely people in the deaf club, I found it hard as I had no one to really relate to.
Naturally, my peers were curious about my CI and wanted to learn about it so over the years, most people in my year got a good understanding and strengthened their deaf awareness. I will admit that sometimes I did want to not stand out as much and be ‘normal’, so my Radio Aid didn’t get used as much as it maybe should have been..
Looking back, I should have worn it all of the time as I’m sure there’s lots that I missed out on- an important lesson here!
We can conclude that although different it was similar growing up. I can relate to what Amy S shared regarding the teachers leaving the microphones on! some interesting conversations! were heard for sure haha! I refer to my microphone attachment as a phonic ear and Amy S refers to it as a Radio Aid both were of the same thing we suspect.
We hope you enjoyed reading about our experiences. How does it compare to your school journey? and how can we ensure young deaf people today, feel more comfortable in the classroom? Please do share your comments with us by contacting us via email on:
livingwithhearinglossuk@gmail.com or comment on our instagram post here or any of our social media channels.
Thank you so much for reading !
With love
Amy & Amy
xx
