Abstract
This chapter examines my experience of late deafness – becoming impaired, being diagnosed as such and then living with this new identity. The analysis considers this experience of impairment from the point of view of subjective and objective disability. I argue that I am currently less impaired now that I have been diagnosed as being hearing impaired than I was when I was not. The chapter concludes that impairment is subjective and should be considered so. It also concludes that context and form of impairment should be considered when understanding disability.
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Notes
- 1.
For brevity, in this chapter, I refer to disability alone in many circumstances where disability and impairment are seen as being similar social concepts.
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Acknowledgments
To my family, John Kennedy, and the memories of John Hull and Oliver Sacks. All of their conversations and correspondence have been invaluable.
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Hayhoe, S. (2017). When Gucci Make Hearing Aids, I’ll Be Deaf: Sensory Impairment in Later Life and a Need to Define it According to Identity. In: Halder, S., Assaf, L. (eds) Inclusion, Disability and Culture. Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity, vol 3. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55224-8_6
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