All the latest news from Groby WI

I WAS UNABLE to attend the January WI meeting, but many thanks to Philippa Brown who kindly reported so eloquently on the talk by Kirsty Ottey about The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID).

Kirsty is a Community Project Officer for RNID and is herself deaf. She gives talks about deafness and hearing loss in the community and also provides hearing aid maintenance in care homes. She takes part in a drop-in session at Bishop Street Methodist Church in Leicester City Centre every 3rd Wednesday from 10.00-12.00 where anyone is welcome.

RNID is a charity and they aim to ensure full inclusivity for the deaf in the community. They lead research into reversing hearing loss and silencing tinnitus and spread awareness about deafness but apparently it can take 10 years for many to admit they have a problem with hearing. Research has found that there is a gene which, if children have it, can develop deafness if they take certain antibiotics. 100 babies per year have been saved from deafness due to this research.

In 2015 11 million people experienced hearing loss i.e. 1 in 6 people. It is estimated that by 2036 14.2 million people will experience hearing loss i.e. 1 in 5 people. 1 in 8 people suffer from tinnitus, a distressing condition causing a wide range of sounds in the ears or head. There is support on the website with online chat facilities - https://rnid.org.uk. There is also a free 3-minute online hearing check, which you take using headphones. If you fail the test, details can be printed out and use to show your GP to assist appropriate referral.

Terms used for deafness:

Hard of Hearing - mild to severe - 70% of 70-year-olds experience this and 50% of 50-year-olds. People are 4 times more likely to develop dementia or mental health problems if they don’t act on their hearing loss.

Deaf/blind people - combined sight and hearing problem

Deaf Community - treating deafness as a way of life

Deafened people - where deafness is as a result of an accident

There are four categories of deafness: Mild - may not hear high-pitched noises; Moderate - struggles in group settings; Severe - requires implants or hearing aid; Profound - little hearing, could maybe hear a jet engine!

The signs of hearing loss: TV volume very loud; difficulty following conversations; asking for repetition of conversations; struggling on the phone; people complaining that you are not listening

The impact of deafness: communication difficulties; embarrassment; social isolation; losing touch with family and friends; might not notice that this is happening, but experience struggle, frustration and lack of confidence because of it

Communication with the deaf: 87,000 people in the UK use British Sign Language (BSL) as well as interpreters, lip reading, finger spelling and specialised equipment such as a purple listener which amplifies the voice into an earpiece

How to communicate well: face the deaf person; tap them for attention; speak normally, not aggressively, slowly or over pronounced; use clear language; write things down; ask if they need an interpreter; learn a little sign language. By law, GPs have to provide an interpreter as there are accessible information standards but interpretation can be done by video

Benefits of hearing aids: can make loud sounds more comfortable; help holding conversations and phone calls; can hear bird song; reduces background noise; stop tinnitus. It is now possible to use accessories to brighten up hearing aids, making them more fashionable. NHS aids can be good quality whereas private ones can be invisible within the ear canal. Hearing aids can be blue tooth enabled to connect to mobile phones, car systems, music systems, ‘ring’ doorbells and iphone watches. There are opportunities for volunteers within the RNID with training available.

At the end of this informative talk, we spent some time learning how to sign the alphabet and then all signed ‘my name is .............’ to each other. A good start, we all agreed!

Thank you so much Philippa for this informative report, I’m sorry I had to miss it!

Our next WI meeting is on Thursday 16th February and the speaker is our very own Lynn Mellor, I’m not sure of the subject of the talk but her past ones have been brilliant!

Ruth Rolinson