From that day on, I was deaf, and no one knew how to deal with it - my parents were even told that, because I had a vivid imagination, I was probably making it up! The only advice I received was to grow my hair long (to hide the hearing aid), not to swim, to give up ballet and to seek a career as a librarian (libraries are quiet!).
No one advised me on how to lip-read or told me about sign language.
So I just go on with life; kept my hair short, carried on dancing because I could follow the person in front and taught myself to lip read. I learned about the world with my eyes and gut instinct. I joined Graeae as an actor 10 years ago. The sheer relief of being able to say 'Hello, my name is Jenny and I am deaf' was just divine.
So I began my life again as an 'out' deaf person, knowing it is okay to be deaf and to say pardon, to ask for sign language interpreters, to make sure the lighting in the pub is bright enough to lip-read, to ask people to speak clearly. That it's okay not to go to the cinema because it's not subtitled, and okay to watch appalling TV because it is the only thing that is. I am constantly asked if I would like to be cured. Absolutely not! It has taken me a long time to get to this point, and besides, I would lose my job.
