Deafie Blogger

A blog about day to day challenges, real life barriers and achievements in a deaf person's world!

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Published: February 16, 2016
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Ashley giving his winning speech

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Deafie Blogger

I’m E, aka Deafie Blogger. I’m an award winning blogger and activist and I'm profoundly deaf! I'm a proud Phonak hEARo and I love inspiring deaf people. Read more on the 'About Me' page.

Award Winning Blogger

Leadership Award Winner – Signature Deaf Awards 2018

No.5 … Top 10 UK Deaf Blogs!

Listed as in number 5 in the Top 10 UK Deaf Blogs! http://blog.feedspot.com/deaf_blogs/

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Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine... life’s deaf-initely a climb but the view is great! • Never let anything stand in the way of achieving your goals! • Nepal was a fantastic volunteering trip giving back to the deaf school but the trip also tested me physically, mentally and emotionally! We walked up to the World Peace Pagoda, then did a 3 day trek in the scorching heat and pouring rain up to Poon Hill in the Himalayan Mountains (3210m)! It was literally blood, sweat and tears... cheers leeches! • I’ve been through so many battles, barriers and challenges in life. Now I’ve accomplished both of these, I believe I can do anything! I feel on top of the world! • #challenge #life #bucketlist #voluntears #volunteer #nepal #travels #trek #poonhill #ghorepani #ghorepanipoonhilltrek #deaf #deafiscool #hearinglosswontstopme #hearingloss #deafness

There’s something special about giving back to the deaf community, especially as it’s close to my heart. • We dedicated a few days of our Nepal trip to volunteering at the Srijana Deaf school in Pokhara, renovating the staffroom making it perfect, ready to welcome the staff back after the school holidays (photos to come!) as well as doing fun cultural and social activities with the deaf school children. • I loved doing this painting workshop with the kids, they drew and painted things that meant something to them, from landscape to school, trees, animals, it was magical to watch the joy on their faces when they created their little masterpieces! Knowing that they appreciate what we’ve done makes it a million times better. • “At the end of the day, it's not about what you have or even what you've accomplished. It's about what you've done with those accomplishments. Its about who you've lifted up, who you've made better. It about what you've given back" • Thanks to @wearevoluntears Deaf Overseas Volunteering for this incredible opportunity! • #deafvolunteeringoverseas #volunteering #voluntears #travel #deaf #hearingloss #deafness #hearinglosswontstopme #deafiscool #pokhara #nepal #deafschool #givingback #deafandproud

Deafness is no barrier when it comes to travel, there’s a whole world out there to see... 🌍 • We’re in Nepal for our deaf @wearevoluntears trip, incredible sights, taking in the culture, cuisine and language! We’ve got a fantastic group, a mixture of deaf, hearing, sign language, oral... there’s no barrier to communication! • We’ve spent the first few nights in Kathmandu, where we explored the Monkey Temple at Swayambhunath Stupa, now we’re in Pokhara where we will spend the next few days volunteering in a deaf school and learning Nepalese Sign Language! • These @gearforears are miracle workers in this humid hot weather, great to prevent moisture damage to your hearing aids! • #deaf #travel #deaftravel #hearingloss #deafness #hearinglosswontstopme #explore #travelling #deafiscool #deafandproud #flauntyourhearingaids

The Ultimate Deaf Travel Kit! • Getting geared up for our @wearevoluntears trip to Nepal! • I like to be super organised especially with the barriers deaf people face while travelling, namely communication! Here are my favourite things I take with me! • 1. “I have a hearing loss” wristbands from Hearing Link - these are so cool, come in 5 colours! Snazzy to wear whilst easy to show someone if you don’t understand them! • 2. Hearing aid batteries! - you can never have too many... I have 5 packs for this trip just to be safe! • 3. Ear Gear - these ear socks are helpful for hot, humid, wet conditions and stop moisture from leaking in your hearing aids - @gearforears - lots of colour choices, I went for bold pink! • 4. Hearing aids and box to store them! • 5. Travel vibrating alarm clock - I can’t live without! Wakes me up every morning, handy if you want to wake up before reaching your destination! • 6. Notebook and pen - always handy if you’re struggling with communication, alternatively whip out your phone and use the notes app! • 7. Direct input lead Headphones - plug into my hearing aids from @connevanslimited - perfect for jamming to tunes! Alternatively my @phonak compilot for wireless Bluetooth version of listening! • 8. 5 in 1 hearing aid toolkit from @hearwithrayovac - all the little tools you need for hearing aid maintenance! • 9. “ I have a hearing loss” ID card also from Hearing Link - fits in your purse - ideal! • 10. Sunflower lanyard - U.K. airports have introduced this for staff to recognise travellers with invisible disabilities and to ask if they need any help! • 11. “Lipreader, please speak clearly” badge - another method of raising deaf awareness and ensuring clear communication! • 12. Last of all my @phonak Roger Pen! Lightweight, portable microphone to help make speech clearer in noisy situations! • What are your best travel gadgets? • #deaftravel #hearingloss #hearinglosswontstopme #deafness #travel #exploring #deafandproud #deafiscool #packing #nepal #wearevoluntears #voluntears #trip #deafawareness

Earlier this week I joined @actiononhearingloss and other supporters; Donna, Beth and Chris and we met Justin Tomlinson MP – the Minister for Disabled People to tell him our experiences being deaf in the workplace, the challenges we face from the application and interview process through to daily tasks in our working life. • We spoke about the changes we’d like to see from the Government to create a hub of useful information for employers to ensure they can best provide for their disabled employees, recognising their talent and helping to minimise the barriers, as well as helping to make the Access to Work process easier and more recognised. I look forward to seeing the changes that they will implement to help make workplaces more inclusive and accessible! • #WorkingforChange #ActiononHearingLoss #Campaigns #Minister #Government #change #workplace #inclusion #access #deaf #hearingloss #hardofhearing #deafness #accessibility #accesstowork #employers

Two weeks countdown begins! These past few months have been all preparation, packing and finalising all the details for our @wearevoluntears trip to Nepal... it’s been hectic, busy, a little stressful to say the least! • First, changing the trip from Sri Lanka to Nepal due to the horrible events that happened over Easter, plus arranging insurance, vaccinations, kit lists, special assistance at the airport (please don’t bring me another wheelchair!) and much more! I’ve also got some hearing loss related goodies from @gearforears and Hearing Link to add to my #deaf accessible travel kit which I can’t wait to share with you all! • We will be volunteering in a deaf school for two weeks, doing restoration, renovation, decorating work as well as social and cultural activities with the students! We’ll also get a chance to get a taste of the local culture and cuisine! • I’ll be posting on my blog (link in bio) and on social media for he duration of the trip, so you can see what we’re up to! • #voluntears #volunteering #overseas #deaf #hearingloss #hearinglosswontstopme #wanderlust #travel #holiday #volunteer #deafness #deafiscool #countdown #deafculture #deafeducation #nepal

VERDICT: So, you saw my last post trying out the @nationaltheatre Subtitle Glasses, as promised here are my thoughts... • The show was ‘Top Girls’ and was also captioned by @stagetext.insta on the sides of the stage, as well as those of us with the glasses. • On arrival, they fitted us with the glasses and explained how to use them, for some it was straightforward, others found it complicated! There’s a menu on the glasses which you can edit the look, size, justification and colour of the subtitles. There was a background option which I think was meant to be the background colour behind the text like black with yellow subtitles, but on them, it’s the letter outline which isn’t clear to read. You can make them big, static or scrolling, justified to the left, right, you could move them where you like, to place above people’s heads or below. So far seemed good! • We watched the show, myself and a few others kept adjusting them, they didn’t sit comfortably with glasses on top of glasses. They were quite heavy and being expensive technology, I was petrified of dropping them! • During the performance, the subtitles lost sync so there was nothing being said, even though Stagetext was continuing with subtitles, they said that was down to poor WiFi connection. I found the subtitles to be quite blurry giving me eye strain focussing on subtitles short distance and the play long distance. I had to keep my head absolutely still as if I moved, the subtitles moved and I got a little motion sickness... • Admittedly, I tried to keep them on as long as I could but I resorted to watching Stagetext’s subtitles as it was just easier for me... • So my advice, give them a try, they might work for you but unfortunately they didn’t for me. If I had a choice, I’d use Stagetext subtitles or I may not go at all..! But they’re good for theatre situations if you wanted a way to access a show. It was an interesting experience and I’m glad to have tried them! • #SubtitleGlasses #NationalTheatre #verdict #subtitles #glasses #show #theatre #london #access #accessibility #review #deaf #hearingloss #deafness #hearinglosswontstopme

Delighted to be a guest speaker for the National Association of Deafened people annual conference in London! I spoke about my #SubtitledCinema campaign, where it started and what stage I’m at now, plus being involved in the panel discussion at the end brought up some interesting questions and gave me some ideas of what to do next! • The whole day was accessible through live subtitles and lipspeakers. Highlights included presentations on Deaf Travel from @thedeaftraveller and @hearinglosswontstopme , @british_airways @vamuseum @stagetext.insta and @nationaltheatre talking about their accessible services, and how proactive they are in making positive changes and listening to what Deaf people want! I was inspired, if only all businesses could be like that! • Thank you for having me NADP! Photo credits: Norman Best, NADP • #presentation #speech #cinemas #subtitles #campaign #inspiring #deafened #deaf #hearingloss #hearinglosswontstopme #deafandproud #deafness #conference #london #deafawareness

⭐️ TOP 10 DEAF AWARENESS TIPS! Feat. @louise_deaf_awareness ⭐️ • Plus... bloopers at the end! • Link in bio if you’d like to share to help us raise deaf awareness! • #DeafAwarenessTips #Funny #Humour #Deaf #Deafness #hearingloss #deafaware #hearinglosswontstopme #flauntyourhearingaids

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