Hello Readers!

Imagine being born with a hearing loss into a hearing family who have no experience or knowledge about deafness. This sounds quite common doesn’t it?

A month ago, Rachel Shenton, British actress and star of ‘Switched at Birth’ TV programme got in touch with me on Twitter (how exciting right!?) and told me about her exciting new venture! She is the writer of a new film called ‘The Silent Child’. I thought it would make a great blog idea as I’d love to share it with my followers!

‘‘The Silent Child’ is a film about a profoundly deaf girl, Libby who from the age of four has been living in a world full of silence and isolation. Her hearing family have no understanding about her deafness, until a social worker comes along and transforms both Libby’s life and her family’s.’

‘This film is, in my eyes, a crucial way of raising deaf awareness. Over 90% of deaf children are born into a hearing family and it’s important that parents of deaf children are aware about deafness and the future implications that it may have if it’s not diagnosed at an early age.’

Rachel and the crew have set up a crowdfunding page to raise funds to make this project happen, with an end goal of £10,000. They have done unbelievably well so far and it would be even better with your support. More information about the project can be found here.

After watching the trailer (with closed captions!) it really struck me how my life sounds so similar to Libby’s. I was born profoundly deaf and my family have no history of deafness. It came as a complete surprise to my parents as they didn’t know how to cope, they were shocked and thought it was the end of the world. I lived in silence and isolation until I was 10 months old and I received my first hearing aids, which then helped me to communicate. As I grew up, I accomplished so many things in life and I have proved everyone wrong. I have showed them that deaf people are capable of achieving anything.

The film sounds like a fantastic one and I credit Rachel for writing it. It’s great to see someone passionate about deafness, like myself! I really do hope you can help raise funds for Rachel and the crew to come together and film this movie. I would love to see the final outcome (which will be subtitled!) But, it will only be possible with your help! Click here to find out more.

Follow ‘The Silent Child’ on Twitter for regular updates: @SilentChildFilm and also give the amazing @RachelShenton a follow too!

Let us know your thoughts, comment them below!

Love E x