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People find it hard to understand why I’d choose to hear ‘less well’, but going without has taught me a lot about myself – and the nuances of disabilityLike most people, I’d had a preconceived notion of who or what a “deaf” person was. So, when I was 15 and a mysterious woman came into my school, pulled me from a lesson and told me I’d been mishearing things my entire life, I was confused to say the least. She was an assigned “teacher of the deaf” from South Tyneside council – the seaside area where I grew up just outside Newcastle – and my GP had informed her that I had substantial hearing loss.I have deaf people in my family – my grandmother’s brother and his children are deaf – but, like many people, I had just thought you were either deaf or you weren’t. It was a very ignorant mindset.Oliver-James Campbell is a journalist and social media manager Continue reading...