A partner’s view

Tony & Sue Long in woods Tony Long is married to Sue, who has a profound hearing loss through Meniere’s Disease and relies on lipreading/speechreading to follow what people are saying to her. She wears one hearing aid but it has only a limited benefit.

Tony’s blog is about how Sue’s deafness affects his day to day life as the hearing partner. He offers useful, interesting and thought-provoking insights about how he has learnt to adapt to his wife’s deafness.

Good Signs in the House

Been a busy couple of weeks, so all the intelligent comments on MP Dawn Butler’s use of BSL to ask that question in the House of Commons have been made. Please excuse this tardy comment – thank you Ms Butler. On the morning after she signed her question there was discussion on the radio news […]

Now You See Me, Now You Don’t.

Is it easier to communicate with a deafened person in the summer than the winter? After careful consideration I have to say, yes. Huffing breath clouds concealing lip forms? Nope, It’s all down to my favoured gilet that I bought in early autumn so this is my first winter’s experience with it. Gilet is a […]

It’s All In The Wrist Action.

Charlie, the farm cat, doesn’t like being picked up let alone being put in a carry box – come to that, he’s not a people cat either. But he does trust and adore Sue. When we get to the farm Charlie usually appears from nowhere and winds around Sue’s legs. I’m pleased to say he’s […]

Do Tell Them.

As it was bitterly cold and trying to snow today Sue and I threw caution to the gale force wind and had lunch at Pizza Hut – bargain price lunchtime buffet with pizza and salad top ups as required. I tell you, we know how to live. Our server noticed Sue is deaf and provided […]

Spread The Word. Part 2

Just so you all know, there’s no planning going on here. I make it up as I go along, which applies to most of my life actually. Sue was telling me after I sent the previous blog over about something her friend, Michelle (a Physioterrorist ……… Physiotherapist), had told her about work. A deaf patient […]

Spread The Word. Part 1

I’m sure everyone has discussed Sainsbury’s intention to make life easier for those with hearing difficulties by teaching (a few? Some? Most?) staff sign language. That’s a great idea and I applaud the company not just because it makes life easier in their stores but because it should encourage other businesses to follow the lead. […]

Downtrodden Phone

Remember when choosing a mobile phone came down to size, colour and did you want the “snake game”? The specifications and options choice is long and baffling now and they all seem to do the same things anyway. At least that’s what I thought when we spoke with the sales advisor at the (not very) […]