Living in the Grey
I live and work in the grey. Not fully hearing. Not fully Deaf. Not neatly defined by the boxes we tend to know and rely on. I have a moderate to severe hearing loss in both ears and wear hearing aids. Some days, I function well. Other days - when I’m tired, overwhelmed, or even just have a cold (as I do this week - bleurgh ) my access to sound drops significantly. Conversations blur. I rely more heavily on lipreading, context, visual cues, and when all else fails - tuning out and phaffing about. It shifts and I shift. And that’s the part we don’t talk about enough. In the world I work in, “Deaf” is often clear. It’s a cultural identity. A language. A community. It’s visible, respected, and increasingly understood. “Hearing” is also clear. But the grey space in between? That space can feel invisible. And yet, it’s full of people. People like me who move between worlds. Who sometimes access spoken language and sometimes don’t. Who ar...