Hearing impaired or not, that is the question!

It was pointed out to me recently on twitter that | use the word impaired when referring to my hearing loss. I have always used this term, not to offend others, but as a general way to describe hearing loss. It was suggested that I shouldn’t use this term for the offence it can cause others, in response I want to justify why I chose to use the words “hearing impaired” when tweeting about England Deaf Rugby’s search for female players.





There are different types of hearing loss, those who are born with it and those who’s hearing gradually gets worse over time. I am in the 2nd category, I was not born with hearing loss and the Doctors have deliberated and come to the conclusion that a nasty bout of shingles in the back of my ear at 16 could have left me with this loss. Since 2011 I have worn a hearing aid in my left ear to help compensate for my lack of hearing. I don’t wear it all the time, as the loss is only mild, but I wear it mainly during work, at the office or any social situation. And when I don’t want to verbally communicate with people I do cheekily take it out every now and again. To me my loss is impaired, I work in an office where I answer phones, go to a number of meetings and have to talk to a lot of people day in and out. The term impaired, which can, as I was point out imply something is wrong and needs to be fixed. In basic terms this is what I do, I wear a hearing aid to ‘fix’ (compensate for) my loss of hearing so that it makes my working life a little easier.

However, I am not saying people with hearing loss need to be fixed.

I do not use this term to offend or upset those who have hearing loss and feel like saying they are impaired means that they are any less of a person than someone with full hearing. I accept that society focuses too much on the ability to verbally communicate with each other. Advances in technology are not always there, yes we have social media, emails and even apps to non-verbally communicate with one another. But society in general likes to talk.

In the last few months I joined England Deaf Rugby and met a number of others with hearing impairments. I have met and communicated with others who are profoundly deaf and can not rely on verbal forms of communication. Yes, I met the team for the first time in May and was naive and a little dense to think that I would be able to talk to everyone there, especially to those who rely on an interpreter. I have since made an effort to learn sign language as I know now how isolating it is for those who can not hear what I am saying. I do not feel that these people are any less intelligent than I am or need to be fixed just because they communicate in a different way.

But like the way my writing is impaired by my dyslexia it is a convenient term that is used to describe how my abilities are different from those who do not have these challenges. Most words can offend at times, say anything, describe anything and someone will find a way to turn the well intended words and find them offensive.

I do not call myself deaf or hearing, because I am both and neither at the same time. Maybe I have been naive to use the words ‘hearing impaired’ and not think of the consequences. But it is how, for the last 3 years, I have defined myself.