The Essay: My Deaf World

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My Deaf World

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Teresa Garratty's personal take on what it is like to be part of Britain's deaf community

Teresa Garratty shares with us what it was like going deaf at 18. She also explores how speech versus sign language can be driving forces of elitism in the deaf community.

A five-part series of essays that explores what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain. Each essayist has their own personal experience and take on what being part of the deaf community means to them. Some share the little-known divisions and politics of the deaf community and others share what makes the community so special and unique to the point where some deaf people consider themselves as a linguistic minority rather than disabled. 

Film-maker Teresa Garratty gives us a frank and honest insight into what it was like to lose her hearing at the age of 18 and how she had to learn “how to be deaf”. There was no manual that she could read, no tutorial on You Tube with tips on how to cope with hearing loss. She discusses how her family and friends would express concerns about her getting involved in “that deaf world” as they saw the deaf community and its culture as alien.  Teresa decided to learn sign language so that she could join the deaf community. But she reveals how she then realised that sign language can be perceived differently within the  deaf community. Sign Language can be like currency - sometimes it’s a case of the more fluency you have the wealthier and more respected you become. 

My Deaf World is produced by Camilla Arnold and Sophie Allen with Mark Rickards as Executive Producer. It is a Flashing Lights Media production for BBC Radio 3. A British Sign Language version was filmed, edited and subtitled by Fifi Garfield.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Five personal takes on what it is like to be part of the deaf community in Britain today.

Five essays exploring what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain. Each essayist has their own personal take on what being part of the deaf community means to them.

A five-part series of essays that explores what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain. Each essayist has their own personal experience and take on what being part of the deaf community means to them. Some share the little-known divisions and politics of the deaf community and others share what makes the community so special and unique to the point where some deaf people consider themselves as a linguistic minority rather than disabled.

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