Preparing for a deaf future is confronting. So often we focus on what we have lost. By understanding the new challenges we face and how we can get around some of them makes it easier to cope.

It's bad enough to go deaf because of aging or due to disease, but to go deaf by accident – through a sudden traumatic event, must be devastating. Sudden hearing loss is a loss which occurs in 1 to 3 days. One of the most common causes is a head trauma.

Felicity went gradually deaf from around age 25 until she was totally deaf by age 35. She lived the next 2 decades deaf.

Someone who has a gradual hearing loss goes through many stages and these are some of the characteristics.

Sound gradually fades when deafness creeps upon us. Most of the time we don’t recognise what we are missing but then one day we are startled when remember we haven’t heard something for a long time.

When we lose someone or something that is important to us it is normal to experience grief. Our hearing is no exception

Even though, we shouldn’t we deafened adults find plenty of things to feel guilty for.

When Jennie went deaf she used hearing aids. Now that she has a hearing and a cochlear implant she says that she hears well in 99% of situations.

Most of us know that if we are exposed to constant noise (above 50 decibels) then we increase the risk of permanent hearing damage. But did you know that hearing loss is only one of the problems associated with exposure to noise?

In the last 10 years, especially with advent of digital technology, hearing aids have changed dramatically.