"Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me". I know it’s intended to teach children not to listen, to take the sting out of someone calling them names, but we all know that names stigmatise and never more those who have some kind of disability or difference.

Emergencies have a nasty habit of occurring in the middle of the night. Most deaf or hearing impaired people don’t wear their hearing aids to bed so how do they know if there is an emergency? This is very difficult for those who cannot hear.

Recently I was asked how a Cochlear Implant works. First of all if you understand how normal hearing works it might help you to understand how the cochlear implant works. (I'm not a doctor nor an audiologist, simply an implantee! so this is not a medical treatise!)

We know that there have been deaf people throughout history. In fact, because communication was so difficult these people were denied some of the basic human rights. What kinds of aids were available before technology gave us the aids we know today?

Deaf Communities were formed as a result of adversity and alienation – a necessity for a group of people who were branded with a stigma who were ostracised and isolated from the world into which they were born. It was from this that their rich language was developed.

Isolation is not a solution to avoid communication. Ask people (your family) how they would like to communicate with you. Help your family to know how best to attract your attention. It is a learning process for everyone and patience is needed by all of us.

There are three aspects to hearing but only two for effective communication. Interestingly while the hearing process can help understanding it doesn’t necessarily mean you listen effectively.

Using a tswitch and a hearing loop means hard of hearing person can get clearer sound than they would if they just used their hearing aid or processor and listened to the sound sent through a loud speaker system.

Not all sounds are pleasant and I’ve spent a good part of the past two weeks in hospitals.

If you can't hear on special occasions you miss just so much. This is the story of my recent trip to Hawaii for my daughter's wedding.