At Signature we like to recognise those individuals who are using their platform to raise deaf awareness. This week we reached out to Amy Morton, the person behind Instagram handle ‘Living with Hearing Loss’. We asked Amy to share her experiences of deafness and also wanted to know more about the creation of ‘Pinknoise’.
Here is what we asked Amy and her responses follow:
- Amy, can you tell us some more about yourself?
My name is Amy Morton, I’m married with two children. I have severe hearing loss in both ears, and I use two hearing aids and lip reading. I’m learning BSL to help towards my tool kit and to be able to connect with more with my d/Deaf community. I grew up largely in a mainstream school. I have always been the only deaf student in my year throughout my whole educational life. Ultimately, I missed out on that connection up until I launched ‘Living with Hearing Loss’ during the pandemic 2020.
2. Why do you believe it is so important to share ‘Living with Hearing Loss’?
I really feel the more outspoken you can be about your Hearing loss/Deafness the more compassionate and understanding society is and the more accommodations and better access are made. I also wanted to create an inclusive space for everyone with the d/Deaf community and help to support current existing charities by highlighting their work and creating connections.
3. How can institutions and organisations become more deaf-aware, and why is it so important?
There are so many ways that institutions and organisations can be more d/Deaf aware. First of all, seeking advice by attending a deaf awareness training session. Many deaf charities, such as, Signature, RNID and Deaf Umbrella offer this for businesses and organisations. Speaking with deaf people/deaf consultants myself included within both ends of the wide deaf community with real lived deaf experiences incorporating their views into your organisation, is something really beneficial. It is so important for d/Deaf people’s well-being, and safety that deaf awareness is a vital part of today’s society. It’s being inclusive of all people.
You can’t assume to know of a deaf person’s experience if you haven’t been through it yourself, so please seek deaf awareness training, you will be surprised to learn what you are missing out.
4. What would you say are the main barriers that deaf people face?
It’s Access. Access to cinema showing. Access to doctor’s appointments. Access to concerts. Access to social media. Access to customer service in shops. ACCESS, ACCESS, ACCESS. Society is getting better but the wider picture gets lost. For example, with music concerts, I really would love to see musicians/concert productions offer a captioned service as that would help me to enjoy the experience so much more. Each deaf person’s access needs are different, and we need to cater for everyone within our Deaf community. Despite amazing progress being made, there is more that can be done for sure, so we still have a way to go.
5.Do you have any personal goals that you would like to achieve?
I am currently and will continue to strive towards any support I can give towards a more inclusive and accessible world. For society to be more accepting and understanding of what hearing loss can be for different people within the wide d/Deaf community and to bring our wide d/Deaf community together in support for one another and allyship for each other and to bring understanding and compassion with the hearing community as well. Building bridges to create a more inclusive and supportive world is my vision.
6. We recently saw your collaboration with Bijoux de Mimi & Deafmetal. Why do you believe it was so important that ‘Pinknoise’ was created?
Pinknoise is so much more than just jewellery, it has been such a beautiful collaboration on so many levels. My reason for bringing these two incredibly hardworking women together was deliberate and purposeful!
I first approached Amelia, who is a family friend of mine and the CEO and founder of Bijoux de Mimi. Amelia is hearing and created a very on-trend jewellery range during lockdown. After a short conversation with me, we very much wanted to get involved with making an inclusive hearing aid jewellery, we wanted to work with Jenni from Deafmetal, who was already pioneering in this area. So, a meeting was set up and the magic began. Amelia has broadened her deaf awareness in this process and opened up her jewellery business with thoughts towards her deaf customers.
My own vision was towards creating conversations that being d/Deaf can be a beautiful part of you, raising awareness of what being deaf is, and for the d/Deaf customer to see themselves within a mainstream brand, helping to eradicate the stigma and shame that can be associated with hearing loss & Deafness.
This has all come about from my own personal lived experience as a young adult raised in the 80’s/90’s, and the old stigmas and shame I faced within society, though not from my close network I should add. I wanted to contribute towards creating something beautiful, positive, and vibrant, plus create conversations for my younger self and for our current generations. It was an honour to bring these women together, and we now have Pinknoise very proudly stocked on our web shop at Living with Hearing Loss (LWHL). Each sale from the web shop goes towards supporting Living with Hearing Loss in its development and growth, and in continuing to build support for the wider deaf community.
I have already felt the magic effect of Pinknoise within my own personal social network, with people coming forward and seeking the help and support that they need in order to navigate their newfound hearing loss. The change is happening, the old stigma is being eradicated and a new mindset on hearing loss has been created. d/Deaf people can truly thrive with their hearing loss and look beautiful whilst doing so.
Thank you to Amy, creator of Living with Hearing Loss, for sharing her d/Deaf experiences. Alongside this, it has been great to learn more about Pinknoise, a creation to end the stigma surrounding hearing devices. Signature will be doing a feature on Pinknoise with answers from Deafmetal creator Jenni and Bijoux de Mimi founder, Amelia.
