When a child is born hearing he usually doesn’t need any support or extra help to learn how to talk. However, when a child is born deaf he needs intensive support usually for speech and language therapy. What about Cochlear implantees?

I have so many skills and accomplishments, so why does deafness make me feel inadequate?

All cultures encourage change – but at the same time they resist it. Change can be uncomfortable. So has a Cochlear implant entered our cultures/

There are many languages which have died out or have very few speakers. But a number of governments, educationalists and other bodies are doing their utmost to keep these languages alive.

Like any culture (or sub-culture) there are ‘in jokes’ and there is plenty of deaf humour around which play on the differences between hearing and deafness. Through humour we can laugh at ourselves and be laughed at without being ridiculed.

If someone who is born deaf and is illiterate has a Cochlear Implant will they understand?

Imagine waking up one morning and being deaf. Or perhaps having an accident and suddenly you can’t hear. Going deaf suddenly is a life changing experience.

Hearing aids are expensive. To make sure you get the best out of them and have them last as long as possible Shona Fennell shares her tips

Shona, my guest author, is a long time hearing aid wearer and a lip reading instructor. She shares some of her insights into getting hearing aids.

Deafness doesn’t just affect our hearing, it, among other things, also affects our speech. Many deaf people have never heard their own voice and those of us who went deaf later in life have forgotten what our voice sounds like.