I've heard it said that talking about hearing loss stigma creates something that wasn't there, or offends people who are confident in their hearing loss or deafness.

I've also heard it said that you should call Voldemort He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named for fear of detection.

Thankfully, as someone who has these conversations often... I can confidently assure you that I'm never offended by them.

I like making my hearing loss visible. I like saying 'I wear hearing aids.' Because for a great big chunk of my life, people thought I was stupid or stuck-up or mean because I didn't hear them say 'hello' or 'do you want a bag?' or 'my dad died.' (After three attempts to hear the last one, I'd settled on replying with a smiling 'ok' and was never forgiven for it.)

I like talking about it because shame is a really heavy and useless thing that people drag around with them.

One in five of us has hearing loss, and it shouldn't be a lonely or misunderstood or terrifying experience.

But it too often is.

(I'm wearing a Deafmetal named Queen).

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