Joanne Woodhouse Roberts

I cannot miss the opportunity to mention the recent increase in Deaf people on our TV screens, seeing the number of Deaf actors/editors/reporters and campaigners on national television is just mind blowing!

How often do you find yourself looking back fondly to the old days, perhaps someone pops up in your memory bank and you often wonder how they are today. Leaving school, college, university, changing jobs, relocating or having children for instance, can happen in what seems the blink of an eye. It’s very easy, leading busy lives and loosing contact with someone unintentionally and before one knows it, years have passed.  I am certainty guilty, I have done it many times!

Some of you may know I was born Deaf, granted I was born with more hearing than I have today and it wasn’t until I was around 4 that I was diagnosed profoundly Deaf. I think even today my parents have a hard time believing I was born Deaf.

You may have read “Who am I?”, looking back at my school days which have a mixture of happy memories, as well as some unhappy ones, and dealing with all those difficult emotions as a deaf teenager in a hearing environment. This article is focusing on my path through Further Education and my views on …

My name is Joanne,  you may know me as the person who wrote the song ‘Give Us the Sign’  written to support the campaign #Where is the interpreter.  I created a choir in 2020 which had a wonderful mix of people with a vast range of age differences, signing ability and a mix of d/Deaf and hearing people.  We created a video which can be viewed on YouTube signing along to Liv Austen singing the lyrics  ‘Give Us The Sign’.  Have a look and see what you think?