Flora Hannay
So Many Different Questions
I often find that there are so many different questions that people ask me when I say, I'm hard of hearing, or I'm deaf. People ask me so many questions, or they start acting differently.
I'm happy to explain things to anyone who wants to know. I'm a pretty open person. But when people see me being deaf as a bad thing, or think it's a compliment to be like, “Oh, you don't sound deaf”, or “Your voice is really good”.
It's mainly a problem with people not really knowing how to react, and people not really being properly educated about what it actually means. And it's not that I think anyone has ever been particularly malicious… I think that the misinformation and the sort of ignorance is what makes it difficult. And it's not necessarily people's intentions, but that doesn't mean that's not how it comes across.
Faith
I became a Christian when I was about 18, so I didn't grow up going to church, but I have found really good community through it, and I find my faith very important to me. It helps me deal with any challenge in my life, and it puts things into perspective for me. It's really quite important to me.
One of my good friends invited me to go to church with her, and I really enjoyed it. I think it was a mix between, I could finally hear what the music sounded like, and I could sort of hear what was being said. I'm big lover of hearing loops.
I think it's kind of a fun cross-section of the fact that a lot of churches have a lot of older people and a lot of older people can't hear and wear hearing aids, and me. But I think it's that sort of cross-section of these spaces that are often quite accessible, which I'm a big fan of.
Hearing Break
Not wearing my hearing aids boosts my mental well-being and my confidence. And the water over the top [of the image], it's kind of what I hear without my hearing aids on. It feels like I'm very deep underwater, and I hear echoey things and it's very nice and quiet. There's not much noise, and I really value that time.
I am hoping, as I get better at signing, and as I get better at communicating with friends and family in sign, I'm hoping that I can spend more time without my hearing aids on because I think that it really does boost my well-being.
My ability to lip read has really decreased since I started wearing hearing aids, and my ability to communicate without wearing them is also really deteriorated, And I really want to learn how to sign because it will mean that I don't have to wear my hearing aids as much. I really hate hearing aid feedback. It's potentially the bane of my existence. It just makes so much noise. And I like not having it, I like having them off.