0:00:02 > 0:00:04FAINT MUSIC
0:00:04 > 0:00:06MUSIC GETS LOUDER
0:00:11 > 0:00:15Imagine what it's like to grow up in a silent world.
0:00:15 > 0:00:16SILENCE
0:00:19 > 0:00:24Where even the most everyday sounds simply aren't there.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28SILENCE
0:00:28 > 0:00:30MUSIC PLAYS
0:00:30 > 0:00:35This is a film about five deaf teenagers taking their first steps into the hearing world.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39This is the deaf community right here - this dot...
0:00:39 > 0:00:42and then all of that is the hearing world.
0:00:44 > 0:00:47Facing the challenges that growing up brings.
0:00:47 > 0:00:50I'm going to be starting university in, like, a week,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53and I'm going to be going there with no hearing.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56Taking risky decisions that will shape their lives.
0:00:57 > 0:01:02- INTERPRETER:- If someone offered me a tablet to fix my hearing, I wouldn't take it.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05And dealing with people who just don't get you.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07'Do you know how patronising it is?!'
0:01:07 > 0:01:12"Can you understand what I am saying to you?!"
0:01:17 > 0:01:19How much can you hear with a hearing aid?
0:01:19 > 0:01:22A lot more, surprisingly.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26I mean, if I had my hearing aid I would have heard you breathing,
0:01:26 > 0:01:29you know, that's how detailed it is.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32I would have heard the birds singing or whatever they do.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35And why do you not wear them?
0:01:35 > 0:01:38I don't want to become too dependent on them.
0:01:38 > 0:01:43I'm trying to learn to listen from my ears, even though
0:01:43 > 0:01:47I can't, entirely, but, like... lip reading, I'm trying to be
0:01:47 > 0:01:50more, you know...lean on that, I'm trying to lean on more of that.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54Without a hearing aid, you can't hear me talk though, can you?
0:01:54 > 0:01:55I like to think I can.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01But if I cover my face, can you still hear what I'm saying?
0:02:03 > 0:02:04A little bit.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09A little bit. Cos I kind of know... I kind of, like,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12expect what you're going to say - cos obviously you're covering your mouth.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16"But the turtles are green and the oranges are orange."
0:02:17 > 0:02:21No... No!
0:02:21 > 0:02:23- MUSICAL DOOR CHIME RINGS - What...?
0:02:23 > 0:02:27- Can you hear that now?- No.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30- It's the front doorbell, I think. - Is it?
0:02:40 > 0:02:43MUSIC: "The City" by Patrick Wolf
0:02:43 > 0:02:47Christianah's 17 and is halfway through her A-levels.
0:02:47 > 0:02:52She's spending the last weekend of her summer holidays at Reading Music Festival.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56Although she's severely deaf, she can still hear SOME sounds.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32Christianah's come to the festival with a group of friends.
0:03:32 > 0:03:36All of them are deaf, and they mostly communicate through sign language.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40People see us signing, and I overhear them saying,
0:03:40 > 0:03:44"Why are they here? They probably can't hear the music."
0:03:44 > 0:03:48- And then we go up to them and talk to them and...- No, no, no, no. I did it, like, four times today.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51These people were looking at you signing, and then I said, "What?!"
0:03:51 > 0:03:55And they were just like... And just kind of walked off. It was so funny!
0:04:13 > 0:04:17LAUGHTER
0:04:19 > 0:04:20MUSIC DROWNS OUT SPEECH
0:04:20 > 0:04:24At events like this, Christianah's deafness entitles her to
0:04:24 > 0:04:27a disability pass.
0:04:35 > 0:04:36"No way!"
0:04:36 > 0:04:41- No, I'm used to that now, so... - "Do you have a hearing aid?" "Yes..."
0:04:41 > 0:04:42"Show me!"
0:04:42 > 0:04:44"Oh, my God, it's hidden!"
0:04:44 > 0:04:46"Oh, my God, you can't see it...
0:04:46 > 0:04:48"But you can hear me though - you're not deaf."
0:04:48 > 0:04:52And it's, like, "The point of the hearing aid is so I can hear!"
0:04:58 > 0:05:02A lot of people have said that I don't sound deaf,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05but I am, let me tell you, very, very deaf.
0:05:08 > 0:05:14Meghan is 19, and is on her way to hospital for a life-changing operation.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19If it's successful, it could radically improve her hearing.
0:05:30 > 0:05:35I want to hear more, because I feel I've hit a brick wall in terms of my hearing
0:05:35 > 0:05:38and maybe my speech, cos I know there's room for improvement.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Meghan has grown up in a deaf family.
0:05:41 > 0:05:46Her mum as well as her sister and grandparents have all inherited their deafness.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50But tomorrow, during a two-hour operation,
0:05:50 > 0:05:52she'll be fitted with a cochlear implant -
0:05:52 > 0:05:56an electronic device that will give her a whole new way of hearing.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02Do you want to just stand up for me so I can have a look?
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Cochlear implants don't work for all deaf people, and Meghan has
0:06:06 > 0:06:09undergone a long assessment process to get to this stage.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12OK, that's fine.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14I just have to put a pen mark on your neck, that's just to
0:06:14 > 0:06:18show that it's the right-hand side that we're doing, OK?
0:06:23 > 0:06:27Remember I mentioned to you a while ago about the positioning
0:06:27 > 0:06:29- of the...the cochlear magnet, and that I didn't...- OK,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31- you have a question about that, yes?- Yeah.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34And how they didn't want it to be, like, too high up.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37And I'm quite happy about the position, just quite low down.
0:06:37 > 0:06:42Meghan is not the first member of her family to have a cochlear implant.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47- Her mum and her sister already have one.- OK, I'll bear in mind what you've said.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50But generally, with your hair, I mean, it really doesn't show.
0:07:00 > 0:07:05The operation will permanently destroy any natural ability to hear.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08But Meghan will have to wait a month before her implant can be
0:07:08 > 0:07:11switched on - the very month she starts university,
0:07:11 > 0:07:15and during this time she will be more deaf than ever before.
0:07:17 > 0:07:20'I will be having my implant, and then I'll be starting university'
0:07:20 > 0:07:26a week later, going into unknown territory with no hearing -
0:07:26 > 0:07:30literally no hearing - and that'll be a big challenge.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35'I am really nervous for Meghan.'
0:07:35 > 0:07:39I've been through it. If it was me, it's fine, but because it's my little sister and
0:07:39 > 0:07:43I feel really protective of her, I don't want anybody to cut her open.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46'The risks are that it just may not work at all,
0:07:46 > 0:07:50'and I've heard of quite a few people that's happened to.'
0:08:08 > 0:08:13- INTERPRETER:- I don't speak at all, because when I was growing up my parents were deaf,
0:08:13 > 0:08:17and so they never spoke, and I thought sign language was all there was.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22I signed growing up. Then at school they gave me speech therapy.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26I didn't know why I needed it. They said I needed to learn to talk.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29I said, "What's that? What does that mean?"
0:08:29 > 0:08:32I said to my parents, "What IS talk?"
0:08:32 > 0:08:35My parents said, "Ah - sign language is the way deaf people
0:08:35 > 0:08:39"communicate, but hearing people SPEAK to communicate."
0:08:39 > 0:08:41I hadn't realised.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49Sara is 19.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51She met Asher at a deaf school five years ago,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54and they've been going out together ever since.
0:08:54 > 0:09:00Because neither of them can hear or speak, they live in a totally silent world.
0:09:00 > 0:09:01SILENCE
0:09:08 > 0:09:11- INTERPRETER:- I never hear anything. I'm fully deaf.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15With hearing aids, all I could hear was beeps, and I thought, "What's that?"
0:09:15 > 0:09:18So I took them off. I never use them. What's the point?
0:09:19 > 0:09:20Same for me.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24Like, if something's dropped, I'll feel the bang on the floor,
0:09:24 > 0:09:28but I don't hear the noise. I don't hear anything.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Sara and Asher live with Sara's mum and brother in Nottingham.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37Everyone in the family is profoundly deaf.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58Sara's family communicate solely through sign language.
0:10:00 > 0:10:04They consider themselves to be very much part of the deaf community,
0:10:04 > 0:10:06and proud of their deaf culture.
0:10:10 > 0:10:15- INTERPRETER:- I'm very strongly in the deaf world. I'm passionate about it.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19I can't imagine myself outside of that world. No, thanks.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23I'm happy where I am, because my parents brought me up deaf.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31Even though it might well help to improve their hearing,
0:10:31 > 0:10:36no-one in Sara's family has ever considered being fitted with a cochlear implant.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41INTERPRETER: I don't like to see children suffer, because it's not right.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46I think cochlear implants look awful attached to the side of your head.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50It's not right. I...I'd rather they looked normal.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54- INTERPRETER:- Personally, thank God I don't have a cochlear implant,
0:10:54 > 0:10:58cos I wouldn't know where I belong - in the deaf world, or the hearing world?
0:10:58 > 0:11:01I know I'm in the deaf world, that's it,
0:11:01 > 0:11:03but with a cochlear I'd feel in between.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06We find it offensive when people come in and say,
0:11:06 > 0:11:08"Oh, we can change you into a hearing person."
0:11:08 > 0:11:12So that's why cochlear implants are a really sensitive issue for us.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17It's offensive to think you can fix it. You can't fix it.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19If you're born deaf, you're deaf, that's it.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27At home, Sara has no need for speech,
0:11:27 > 0:11:31but in a week's time she's starting a three-year university course.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38In the wider world, where few will understand her sign language,
0:11:38 > 0:11:40how will she make herself heard?
0:11:46 > 0:11:52So I put up a status last night - quite blunt about how I... how I said it,
0:11:52 > 0:11:57and I said, "I'm getting my skull hacked into in about 13 hours. Lovely(!)"
0:12:00 > 0:12:04The cochlear implant surgery is most successful
0:12:04 > 0:12:06when it's performed on the ear with the best hearing,
0:12:06 > 0:12:10which makes the operation all the more risky.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15'One of my main fears is having the operation on my good ear,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18'because if, say, it doesn't work
0:12:18 > 0:12:22'and I'm left with no hearing in that ear - which has happened to
0:12:22 > 0:12:26'one of my other friends - I'm not sure how I would cope.'
0:12:36 > 0:12:39The surgeon creates a small space on the surface of Meghan's skull,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42which is where the electronics will go.
0:12:42 > 0:12:47From here, an electrode will carry signals down into the inner ear.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03After the surgery, Meghan will have to wait four weeks
0:13:03 > 0:13:08before the implant can be switched on, as the area must be given time to heal.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12For a month, she'll have virtually no hearing,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15and will have to rely on lip reading and sign language to communicate.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31In four weeks' time, you're going to come back,
0:13:31 > 0:13:36and we're going to switch the implant on, OK?
0:13:36 > 0:13:39When you switch on it'll probably be quite strange - some beeps and buzzes -
0:13:39 > 0:13:44and you still might feel that you're not picking up speech, but with time,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47as you get used to it, it'll hopefully get better and better.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50For some people it can be six months, a year
0:13:50 > 0:13:54- before they really feel they're making progress.- Yeah.- OK?
0:13:54 > 0:13:56Right.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Did the doctors come in and see you this morning?
0:13:59 > 0:14:01Hmm?
0:14:01 > 0:14:07I know, I've just realised you can't hear me properly.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14- That's us. - Oh, yeah. It's not too bad.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22While Meghan comes from a deaf family,
0:14:22 > 0:14:2490% of deaf children are born to hearing parents,
0:14:24 > 0:14:27with little or no experience of deafness.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Jake and Adam are identical twins,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40although one difference sets them apart.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45Jake is profoundly deaf.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47Go...!
0:14:49 > 0:14:51And Adam can hear.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54Good tackle. It was a good tackle.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59INTERPRETER: Sometimes I wish I wasn't the only one,
0:14:59 > 0:15:02that there was someone else in my family who was also deaf.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07That way I could explain to them exactly how I feel about being deaf...
0:15:09 > 0:15:12..and they'd understand what I meant.
0:15:12 > 0:15:13But there isn't anyone.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16My whole family can hear, and I'm the only one who's deaf.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21- Very lucky.- Was it? Not true.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25I am really lucky to be hearing considering that Jake was deaf,
0:15:25 > 0:15:27and it could have quite easily gone the other way,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Jake could've been fine, I could have been the one that had
0:15:30 > 0:15:34been deaf, and my life and the people I know and the way - the way
0:15:34 > 0:15:37that I'm going to grow up and live my life would have been so different.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44If you ask nicely, Dad might give you a lift to the train station
0:15:44 > 0:15:46cos he's on a late tomorrow.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49The twins were born 12 weeks early,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52and it was complications from their premature birth
0:15:52 > 0:15:54that led to Jake's deafness.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57At first his parents found it hard to come to terms with the diagnosis.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02'We've come a long way from Jake being diagnosed.'
0:16:02 > 0:16:06And the early, early times, that was - that was the hard bit,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09and like we said, in sort of the first year or so.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12It's like having something very special given to you
0:16:12 > 0:16:15on Christmas morning and it doesn't work.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20It was a really strange time. It didn't last for long.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24And the good thing about having twins is we realised that there
0:16:24 > 0:16:27was absolutely nothing wrong with Jake's brain.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Actually, his brain was exactly like Adam's.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33And if I drove in the car when he was in the car-seat,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36when he was quite small, and Adam used to ask me,
0:16:36 > 0:16:37"What's that, Mummy?"
0:16:37 > 0:16:40And it - say it was a cow in the field -
0:16:40 > 0:16:43I used to stop the car and tell Jake,
0:16:43 > 0:16:45because I knew Jake was the same age
0:16:45 > 0:16:48and I knew he was looking out of the window, and I thought,
0:16:48 > 0:16:52"I bet he's got the same thoughts as Adam, but he can't ask me that question yet."
0:16:54 > 0:16:59- Hmm!- Don't scratch your plate, please.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02It's really loud and eehhh!
0:17:02 > 0:17:04I know you can't hear it, but it really...
0:17:07 > 0:17:09- THEY LAUGH - It's bad for us!
0:17:13 > 0:17:15Because the twins are so close,
0:17:15 > 0:17:19no-one understands better than Adam the unfairness that Jake might face.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25Because you're deaf that restricts the jobs you can have.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28So, for example, you can't - like, you used to want to fly,
0:17:28 > 0:17:31be a pilot, and now you can't.
0:17:31 > 0:17:34Because you need to be able to hear what people are saying
0:17:34 > 0:17:37about the flight and things, that's something you can't do.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41Maybe you get a job at Tesco or something.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47For example, and you earn 20,000 every year.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49I might get a job as...
0:17:51 > 0:17:54a boss of a hotel, I might earn...
0:17:54 > 0:17:56..50 or 60,000 and you earn...
0:17:58 > 0:18:02..20. So I earn a lot more money than you.
0:18:02 > 0:18:05You think you should be able to fly a plane.
0:18:07 > 0:18:09Don't you think that would be difficult?
0:18:20 > 0:18:24Asher began driving lessons a year and a half ago.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27He's currently preparing for his test.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30His instructor is hearing
0:18:30 > 0:18:33and Asher is only the second deaf pupil he's taught.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38INTERPRETER: The instructor has two ways of telling me what to do.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44While I'm driving he uses hand-mime, handshapes like, for example,
0:18:44 > 0:18:47if I'm going round a roundabout,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49he says two,
0:18:49 > 0:18:51that means the second exit.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56He also says left, right,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58stop, go ahead.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00And this means go faster.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06But if he needs to explain something more complex,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09he tells me to stop and he writes it down.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31For deaf people obviously there's the issue where
0:19:31 > 0:19:32they can't hear sirens,
0:19:32 > 0:19:34they over-rev the engine
0:19:34 > 0:19:36because they can't hear the engine revs.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40You've also got big lorries and stuff that they can't hear coming up alongside them.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43So we have to make sure that they check their mirrors a lot more
0:19:43 > 0:19:47than somebody who can hear normally because, obviously, there's a lot of issues
0:19:47 > 0:19:50that they won't hear coming up surprising them.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53But it's pretty much the same as boy racers running around with loud music on,
0:19:53 > 0:19:55they can't hear nothing neither.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14Christianah lives with her family in Milton Keynes.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18They are all hearing apart from her sister, who was also born deaf.
0:20:21 > 0:20:24When they were younger,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26they were both...they were both
0:20:26 > 0:20:32embarrassed about being deaf because of their friends.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35Because when they were younger their friends used to laugh at them.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40I was really worried because I thought how are they going to survive after,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43when they get older, in the big, wide world.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44For the past seven years
0:20:44 > 0:20:47Christianah has grown up in the safe haven of Mary Hare,
0:20:47 > 0:20:51a boarding school exclusively for deaf children.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55But now she has only one year left before heading out
0:20:55 > 0:20:58into the hearing world and it's a crucial year.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01She must get the A-level grades she needs
0:21:01 > 0:21:04to have any chance of going to university.
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Unfortunately, last year didn't go so well.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13..was, erm...
0:21:19 > 0:21:20Ahhh!
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Oh, my God.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04'I think every deaf person has to try harder, you know,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07'to get where they want to be.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10'I'm constantly thinking, "What if?" you know,
0:22:10 > 0:22:12'because of my hearing.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16'What if I can't get to that particular stage because of my hearing?'
0:22:23 > 0:22:28Mary Hare is one of only 30 deaf schools in the country.
0:22:28 > 0:22:31It has 230 pupils aged 5-19.
0:22:38 > 0:22:43The school keeps classes very small to offer the students more support.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49'Good morning, everybody.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52'I hope you had a wonderful summer holiday.'
0:22:52 > 0:22:57There are only months left for you at Mary Hare.
0:22:57 > 0:23:03Every day, every hour, every minute is vital.
0:23:05 > 0:23:07Use your time and your help well
0:23:07 > 0:23:12and you can all have something special to celebrate next August.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19Mary Hare has a unique approach as it places so much emphasis
0:23:19 > 0:23:23on speech that sign language is actually banned from classes.
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Aooow!
0:23:26 > 0:23:29Loud!
0:23:30 > 0:23:32For most of their lessons the students wear headphones,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36which isolate the teacher's voice from any background noise.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39OK, so, The Handmaids Tale -
0:23:39 > 0:23:43they call the babies that are born with deformities "shredders",
0:23:43 > 0:23:45and they dispose of them,
0:23:45 > 0:23:47cos they're looking for this perfect baby
0:23:47 > 0:23:50and they don't know how to handle those kind of disabilities.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53And that's the kind of issue that the book explores.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57What about...a thought about your disability?
0:23:57 > 0:24:03- Because what did people used to believe about deaf people before technology?- Deaf and dumb.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06And that's an insult.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08They thought they were possessed as well.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10You'd be locked away, I'm afraid,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12cos people had no understanding...
0:24:12 > 0:24:15Because of the emphasis on speaking and hearing,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19students are expected to wear their hearing aids as much as possible.
0:24:19 > 0:24:24How many of you wear your hearing aids over the holidays?
0:24:24 > 0:24:26How many of you walk out of Mary Hare and go,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29whoosh, six weeks of not wearing them?
0:24:30 > 0:24:33Any student found without their hearing aids during the school day
0:24:33 > 0:24:35can find themselves in trouble.
0:24:35 > 0:24:38Christianah!
0:24:38 > 0:24:41- Yeah.- No, no, no
0:24:41 > 0:24:44No, come here. Who's your form tutor?
0:24:46 > 0:24:51If you leave them at home in your room again, tomorrow,
0:24:51 > 0:24:53you'll be last for lunch.
0:24:53 > 0:24:55I'm going to have a little word with Miss Appleby...
0:24:55 > 0:24:59- No. Wait, wait, wait. - ..and make sure she checks on you in the morning.
0:24:59 > 0:25:03- You are 18. Grown up. Wear them. - I will have - I will have it in the morning.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06- I will! I promise, I promise, I promise.- OK. - I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14'I don't really like being viewed as deaf.'
0:25:14 > 0:25:16"Oh, my God, she's deaf."
0:25:16 > 0:25:19- I'm not, I just can't hear. - That's the deaf girl.- I can't...
0:25:19 > 0:25:22Yeah! "That deaf girl, that small blonde one?"
0:25:22 > 0:25:24Ohh! No. I have a name!
0:25:24 > 0:25:29Have you noticed how hearing people have one, like, view of deaf people?
0:25:29 > 0:25:32They always think that deaf people cannot hear at all
0:25:32 > 0:25:34and cannot speak.
0:25:34 > 0:25:35We are deaf and dumb.
0:25:35 > 0:25:39Imagine just going to the shop and then you start,
0:25:39 > 0:25:43"Oh, can I have a book, please?" and stuff. And then they're, like, "OK then."
0:25:43 > 0:25:46And they see the hearing aid and they're, like, "Oh, you're deaf."
0:25:46 > 0:25:50- "Oh, erm, you...want...a...book?" - Do you know how patronising it is?
0:25:50 > 0:25:54- SPEAKS SLOWLY:- Can you understand what I am saying to you? OK?
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Bus drivers are worst.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Cos, like, we have some, what do you call it?
0:25:59 > 0:26:02- We have a Freedom Pass. - A Freedom Pass.
0:26:02 > 0:26:07We get on the bus and we show the driver, and the driver's just like, "You're not disabled."
0:26:07 > 0:26:11They'll look at you as if you're a retard, as if you're supposed to look deaf.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15What do you want me to do? Be in a wheelchair and have my head onto the side or something?
0:26:21 > 0:26:24It's four days since Meghan's cochlear implant operation.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27She has another three weeks before the implant can be switched on.
0:26:34 > 0:26:37How is it being entirely deaf?
0:26:37 > 0:26:39How is it being entirely deaf?
0:26:41 > 0:26:47I don't know, it's quite strange really, and I feel a lot more deaf.
0:26:47 > 0:26:50I'm not like... Normally, I can, like, hear sounds and stuff,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53but since it's my left hearing aid it's really strange.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57If I hear sounds, I can't define what it is,
0:26:57 > 0:27:01and I can't tell where it's coming from, and it's quite annoying.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06It's been weird here because she's not been playing music,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08and normally it's on 24/7,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10but because she's not enjoying it
0:27:10 > 0:27:12with the hearing she's got in the other ear
0:27:12 > 0:27:14it's been quite silent here.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19As well as struggling with drastically reduced hearing,
0:27:19 > 0:27:21Meghan faces another challenge.
0:27:21 > 0:27:26She's about to move into halls for Freshers' Week at university.
0:27:26 > 0:27:28Are you worried about university
0:27:28 > 0:27:30and not being able to hear at the moment?
0:27:32 > 0:27:35A little bit, yeah, because I'm worried that the first month,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38when everybody's getting to know each other
0:27:38 > 0:27:40and maybe going out to something,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43the first month is maybe quite crucial.
0:27:44 > 0:27:48It's actually quite scary because it's Freshers' Week
0:27:48 > 0:27:51which is like a whole week of meeting new people.
0:27:51 > 0:27:55I hope it's going to be a good week
0:27:55 > 0:27:57that I'll remember for the rest of my life,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00and it's not going to turn out completely horrific.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Meghan's friend, Laila, is also deaf, but has improved hearing
0:28:05 > 0:28:09through a cochlear implant she's had for years.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12She's going to help Meghan through her first few days at university.
0:28:35 > 0:28:40Meghan's sister, Justine, started at university three years ago.
0:28:41 > 0:28:45The transition to university, for me, was actually quite tough.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48Having come from a deaf family where you know what everything...
0:28:48 > 0:28:50what everybody is saying,
0:28:50 > 0:28:54what...exactly what's going on, you're just overwhelmed.
0:28:54 > 0:28:58And I was, more often than not, an observer.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01It's hard to stop everybody and say, "I'm deaf,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04"I have a cochlear implant, I need you to be aware."
0:29:04 > 0:29:06You can't just do that.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13Meghan will be studying veterinary nursing
0:29:13 > 0:29:15at Edinburgh Napier University.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22For the first year, she's moving into a flat in halls
0:29:22 > 0:29:25with five people she has never met before.
0:29:25 > 0:29:27It's not bad.
0:29:29 > 0:29:32- Hiya.- Hi.- How are you?- I'm Michaela. - Pleased to meet you.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35- What's your name?- Meghan. My name's Meghan.- Oh, hi.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37- What room are you in?- 8.- OK.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40So I'll be in this room for the rest of the year.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42I've met, I think, four people now in here.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44- Really? I've not met anybody, you're the first one.- OK.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48So I'm just having a look around - really nice...really, really nice.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51- I like the bed, it's very nice. - It's big!
0:29:51 > 0:29:54So just to let you know, I'm deaf.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57- Sorry?- I'm deaf. I'm a deaf student. - Oh!
0:29:57 > 0:29:59And I've just had a cochlear implant,
0:29:59 > 0:30:00so I've just had an operation,
0:30:00 > 0:30:02so I can't hear very much at the moment,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05but I'll be getting switched on at the end of the month,
0:30:05 > 0:30:06so just bear with me.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09- OK. No, that's good to know. - I can't hear very much,
0:30:09 > 0:30:10but I'll try my best.
0:30:34 > 0:30:39Laila said to me that deafness is like an invisible disability,
0:30:39 > 0:30:43that people would never know that you're deaf unless you told them.
0:30:43 > 0:30:45And obviously I'm from a deaf family,
0:30:45 > 0:30:49went to a deaf boarding school, so it's, like, I was
0:30:49 > 0:30:50in heaven for a few years,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53and so now it's, like, this is the real world,
0:30:53 > 0:30:58you've got to put yourself out there and make it known that you're deaf.
0:30:59 > 0:31:04I love how in the fridges you've got, like, salad, eggs and stuff,
0:31:04 > 0:31:08and my addition to the fridge is a bottle of Malibu.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13To my, um...university experience, I don't know,
0:31:13 > 0:31:15my first university experience.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22MUSIC: "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" by The Proclaimers
0:31:43 > 0:31:45They're really, really nice, and, um...
0:31:56 > 0:31:59Do you ever feel isolated
0:31:59 > 0:32:04by yourself in, like, a group or feel depressed
0:32:04 > 0:32:07because of being, like, the only deaf person in a group
0:32:07 > 0:32:10- or anything like that?- No.
0:32:12 > 0:32:13- You're happy?- Yes.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25So you get frustrated but not depressed?
0:32:26 > 0:32:28HE INHALES DEEPLY
0:32:30 > 0:32:32Why do you get frustrated?
0:32:41 > 0:32:44You wish you knew what they were talking about.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47More involved in conversation.
0:32:52 > 0:32:54Exactly. People feel uncomfortable.
0:32:56 > 0:32:58Yeah, because it's strange to them.
0:32:58 > 0:33:00We experience it every day,
0:33:00 > 0:33:05and all my life I've been talking to deaf people, so I'm used to it,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08but other people that have never talked to a deaf person
0:33:08 > 0:33:10in their life, it's scary for them.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20Today is Sara's first day at university.
0:33:20 > 0:33:22She's beginning a three-year sociology course
0:33:22 > 0:33:23at Nottingham Trent.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29INTERPRETER: Sara really wanted to go to university -
0:33:29 > 0:33:31it was her aim to get a degree.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34She wanted to secure her future and get a really good job,
0:33:34 > 0:33:38and I'm really proud of her, cos, well, you know, she's deaf,
0:33:38 > 0:33:41but she CAN do it, she CAN go to university,
0:33:41 > 0:33:43and that's really amazing.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48- INTERPRETER:- People think that deaf people are thick
0:33:48 > 0:33:52and can't go to university, but they can.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54But I am worried about making friends
0:33:54 > 0:33:56and university life in general,
0:33:56 > 0:33:59because it's difficult to be included in a hearing community.
0:34:08 > 0:34:10To get by at university,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14Sara will need two support workers at every lecture -
0:34:14 > 0:34:18an interpreter to translate the lecturer's words into sign language
0:34:18 > 0:34:20and a note-taker.
0:34:20 > 0:34:24But there's been a mix-up with today's note-taker,
0:34:24 > 0:34:26she's only been booked for half the lecture.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49- INTERPRETER:- I'm a little bit nervous about the note-taker
0:34:49 > 0:34:51and the interpreter being there.
0:34:51 > 0:34:54It's a bit embarrassing for me turning up with two other people.
0:34:57 > 0:35:01LECTURER: I'm going to go round and give everybody our handbook.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05And it's a real pleasure to see you all...
0:35:05 > 0:35:07- INTERPRETER:- But I need both of them
0:35:07 > 0:35:10because when I'm watching the interpreter sign,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13I can't look away to make notes for myself.
0:35:13 > 0:35:15That's what the note-taker's for.
0:35:15 > 0:35:17And talk a little bit more detail...
0:35:17 > 0:35:21Hearing people can listen AND take notes, but I can't.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28But I'm worried it might be off-putting for other students
0:35:28 > 0:35:31and they might not come and talk to me.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35They might think, "Oooh, special needs, can't she manage on her own?"
0:35:43 > 0:35:46Christianah comes home from school most weekends
0:35:46 > 0:35:47to see her mum and sister.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53Her dad isn't around as he went back to Nigeria when she was four,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56about a year after her deafness was recognised.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04I don't know what my dad thought about my deafness.
0:36:04 > 0:36:05I was too young to know,
0:36:05 > 0:36:10but I have been told by my mum that he weren't happy at first...
0:36:11 > 0:36:13..and now he's OK about it.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17He doesn't mention it, though, it's like I don't have it,
0:36:17 > 0:36:19I don't have the disabilities.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23Christianah's dad, he didn't like the idea of them wearing hearing aid
0:36:23 > 0:36:26especially when we are with the family
0:36:26 > 0:36:30or with his friends, so we always have to take them off.
0:36:30 > 0:36:35He wanted them to speak, he didn't want them to do any signing,
0:36:35 > 0:36:41so I wasn't encouraged to...to learn sign language, and I never did.
0:36:43 > 0:36:46- 16?- Yeah.- What are you putting it on me for?
0:36:46 > 0:36:50Size 10, but it's size 8...
0:36:50 > 0:36:53Although Christianah has some hearing friends,
0:36:53 > 0:36:56she's never had a hearing boyfriend.
0:37:02 > 0:37:07But there's always the topic of what would the hearing guy's family think
0:37:07 > 0:37:12and how would they react to the fact that he's had a deaf girlfriend?
0:37:12 > 0:37:16Because they may have never met a deaf person before,
0:37:16 > 0:37:20so to have one as your son's girlfriend would be a bit of a...
0:37:20 > 0:37:22you know, shock.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26It will always be a case of, "Oh, but she's deaf.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30"But she's deaf, you know, what if your child is deaf?"
0:37:34 > 0:37:40Some families have a husband deaf and a wife deaf,
0:37:40 > 0:37:44some families like that wish for a deaf child
0:37:44 > 0:37:46so the whole family's deaf.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49Do you think that's fair? Do you think that's right or not?
0:37:54 > 0:37:58It's not very fair, is it, to be wishing for a disabled child?
0:38:02 > 0:38:04The mum and dad might be happy,
0:38:04 > 0:38:06but the child might have a terrible life,
0:38:06 > 0:38:07get bullied or something like that,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10or he might have a fine life, we don't know, but...
0:38:10 > 0:38:11I'm fine.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14Yeah, you're fine, but it would be easier to be hearing.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31Meghan still has no hearing following her operation,
0:38:31 > 0:38:34but today she has to attend her first lecture.
0:38:38 > 0:38:40MURMUR OF CONVERSATION
0:38:47 > 0:38:49DISTORTED LOW RUMBLING
0:39:06 > 0:39:10Can you all hear me up at the back? ..OK.
0:39:10 > 0:39:11MUFFLED DISTORTED RUMBLING
0:39:14 > 0:39:18With no hearing, Meghan's only way of understanding other people
0:39:18 > 0:39:22is to read their lips, which is much harder in the dark.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25MUFFLED DISTORTED SPEECH
0:39:56 > 0:39:59HUBBUB OF CONVERSATION
0:40:20 > 0:40:21DISTORTED RUMBLING
0:41:07 > 0:41:10The main thing a deaf person could be embarrassed about
0:41:10 > 0:41:14is their speech maybe, I don't know,
0:41:14 > 0:41:18but they could...they could feel like...like, even me,
0:41:18 > 0:41:19if I was to go up to McDonald's,
0:41:19 > 0:41:22I would go in McDonald's, which I don't any more,
0:41:22 > 0:41:24but if I was to say, "Oh, can I have a cheeseburger?
0:41:24 > 0:41:28And they say, "Sorry, what?" "A cheeseburger." "Sorry, what?"
0:41:28 > 0:41:31That puts me down, I think, "Oh, am I not speaking clear enough?"
0:41:31 > 0:41:35or, "Can you not understand me?" or, "Am I not saying the right thing?"
0:41:37 > 0:41:40Christianah has now been back at school for five weeks
0:41:40 > 0:41:42and her grades are starting to improve.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46But she still doesn't wear her hearing aids all day.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51HUBBUB OF CONVERSATION
0:41:51 > 0:41:53CLATTER OF PLATES
0:41:53 > 0:41:54Yes, please?
0:41:55 > 0:41:56More fish.
0:42:14 > 0:42:15SILENCE
0:42:27 > 0:42:29SILENCE CONTINUES
0:42:33 > 0:42:37Christianah is considering a degree in journalism.
0:42:38 > 0:42:43I am concerned in how far I could go, cos I know anything I do
0:42:43 > 0:42:46my deafness does interfere, no matter what.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52I would like to think that I'd gone as high
0:42:52 > 0:42:56as any other hearing person could go,
0:42:56 > 0:42:59But I would hate to see my deafness
0:42:59 > 0:43:01stopping it from going anywhere.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04Hopefully, that's not the case,
0:43:04 > 0:43:06you know, but we'll see.
0:43:07 > 0:43:08We'll see.
0:43:15 > 0:43:20Sara's now been at university for three weeks.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25- INTERPRETER:- University at the moment is kind of OK,
0:43:25 > 0:43:29but I've started to wonder whether I should stay or quit.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33But I feel under pressure because there are so few jobs around,
0:43:33 > 0:43:37plus the fact that I'm deaf is going to make getting a job even harder.
0:43:37 > 0:43:42So it feels like my only option is to stay at university.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45If, by Christmas, I'm still not happy,
0:43:45 > 0:43:48I'll have to think of doing something else.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52Tonight, Asher is taking Sara out to talk things over.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23CHATTER IN RESTAURANT
0:44:29 > 0:44:31INTERPRETER: If there's no queue behind me
0:44:31 > 0:44:34I feel much more relaxed ordering things.
0:44:34 > 0:44:36But if there is a queue I feel a bit under pressure.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39Hi there. What table?
0:44:41 > 0:44:43OK. What can I get for you?
0:44:45 > 0:44:49Because I'm deaf and I'm communicating with a hearing person,
0:44:49 > 0:44:51it takes a little bit longer.
0:45:15 > 0:45:18One funny thing when we were out for a meal together
0:45:18 > 0:45:21is that we can't talk and eat at the same time.
0:45:21 > 0:45:23Usually one person will start talking
0:45:23 > 0:45:28and the other person will eat. Then, when they want to say something,
0:45:28 > 0:45:31they have to stop eating and put their cutlery down
0:45:31 > 0:45:35so that they can talk. We take it in turns to talk and eat,
0:45:35 > 0:45:38and the trouble is, if you talk too much, your food goes cold.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47A month has passed since Meghan's operation.
0:45:48 > 0:45:53I'm going to get my implant switched on today.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56It's been a long four weeks, but I've finally made it.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01It should be quite interesting, exciting.
0:46:01 > 0:46:03I'm a bit nervous as well.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07It's going to be really weird hearing sounds through my magnet
0:46:07 > 0:46:11right through here into my cochlea and not actually through my ear.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16I've been told not to expect too much
0:46:16 > 0:46:19from my first switch-on,
0:46:19 > 0:46:24but I think I'm starting to expect a lot.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43I remember the last time I was walking this way,
0:46:43 > 0:46:45I was crapping myself. I had my overnight bag
0:46:45 > 0:46:49and I was walking ahead, like I didn't want to speak to anybody
0:46:49 > 0:46:51before my operation.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55Now I'm like, "I'm going to get switched on!"
0:46:58 > 0:47:01OK, so that's you switched on.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05OK.
0:47:05 > 0:47:06TAPPING
0:47:06 > 0:47:08- Yeah, I hear that.- Yeah? Good.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10Yeah. And that's quite high pitched.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12PEN CLICKING
0:47:12 > 0:47:13Good, good.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15- KNOCKING - Good. OK.
0:47:15 > 0:47:18- And can you hear my voice? - Mm-hm.- Good!
0:47:18 > 0:47:20It's a little bit like robotic.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22Right, that's fine though. That's great.
0:47:22 > 0:47:25- RATTLING - Can you hear that?
0:47:25 > 0:47:27Because you won't have heard that kind of sound before,
0:47:27 > 0:47:29- that'll sound a bit odd.- Yeah.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31OK. Good. Well done.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35So your brain's trying to sort out all of these different sounds
0:47:35 > 0:47:38at the moment and, you know, it'll take time to be able to pick out
0:47:38 > 0:47:41different sounds and to recognise sounds.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44So don't worry if you can't hear some sounds
0:47:44 > 0:47:47that other people can hear. It just takes time.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49BABY SCREAMING
0:47:49 > 0:47:51Can you hear that? Now you know!
0:47:55 > 0:47:59Now you know what it's like to hear a child screaming.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02It's horrible. It's like really high,
0:48:02 > 0:48:03I was looking at the ceiling,
0:48:03 > 0:48:06I thought it was an alarm of some sort.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11For a month, Meghan has been unable to listen to her music.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15Now is her chance to find out if she can enjoy her favourite songs again.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19How's it sounding? Is it good?
0:48:19 > 0:48:22I can hear. I can hear the music.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38Over the next few weeks, Meghan will get better
0:48:38 > 0:48:41and better at hearing ordinary sounds through the implant.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43I can't really hear that.
0:48:45 > 0:48:49A little bit, but it's not, like, loud.
0:48:49 > 0:48:51TOILET FLUSHING
0:48:51 > 0:48:53It's quite loud.
0:48:53 > 0:48:55It sounds quite loud.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00I can, like, hear the beeping at the end.
0:49:06 > 0:49:07HIGH-PITCHED BEEP
0:49:07 > 0:49:09Yeah, I can hear that.
0:49:09 > 0:49:11RUSTLING
0:49:14 > 0:49:18I know what you couldn't hear before.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24She's going to try and put on the car park alarm
0:49:24 > 0:49:28and see if I can hear it. Before, it was too high for me to hear.
0:49:28 > 0:49:32But I'm not sure if I can hear a high-pitched sound.
0:49:32 > 0:49:33CAR ALARM RINGING
0:49:33 > 0:49:36Is that it?
0:49:36 > 0:49:38Yeah, I can hear that.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46To help with her career choices, Christianah has found herself
0:49:46 > 0:49:50work experience at a media production company.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53She has travelled to London
0:49:53 > 0:49:55to visit the offices of Remark,
0:49:55 > 0:49:59a company staffed mainly by deaf people.
0:50:24 > 0:50:28Over the course of the day, Christianah will attend
0:50:28 > 0:50:30briefings, help prepare stories
0:50:30 > 0:50:32and operate the autocue
0:50:32 > 0:50:36for the recording of this week's news programme for the deaf.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28Like, when you rub your hands together,
0:52:28 > 0:52:31I never knew that made a sound. It's just really annoying.
0:52:44 > 0:52:47I'm constantly gushing over every time somebody asks me
0:52:47 > 0:52:50"Oh, you've had an implant." I'm like, "Yes, I've got it."
0:52:50 > 0:52:53I'm showing them and just saying, "Oh, you should have one."
0:52:53 > 0:52:55Telling everybody that they should have one.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57And, er...
0:52:57 > 0:53:02And I amaze myself with what I can hear and it's amazing
0:53:02 > 0:53:06with what a little piece of machinery can help you hear.
0:53:10 > 0:53:14Sara and Asher have come down to London for a radical new club night,
0:53:14 > 0:53:17designed specifically for deaf people.
0:53:17 > 0:53:22It's called Sencity, and it's the first of its kind in the UK.
0:53:23 > 0:53:27Around a thousand deaf people have bought tickets for tonight's event.
0:53:27 > 0:53:33- INTERPRETER: - Sometimes there's a party and, you know, I can't make it
0:53:33 > 0:53:35or I'll go and my friends can't make it.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39but Sencity, everybody's going to be there.
0:53:39 > 0:53:44Meghan is also getting ready to go to Sencity.
0:53:44 > 0:53:46It's quite nice to go from,
0:53:46 > 0:53:50like, university where I've got to really, really work hard
0:53:50 > 0:53:52to follow what's being said
0:53:52 > 0:53:56to a deaf environment and having to just, like, sign
0:53:56 > 0:53:59and understand exactly everything that's going on.
0:53:59 > 0:54:04But I have... Right now, I've got no preference
0:54:04 > 0:54:07because I've made my first proper hearing friend
0:54:07 > 0:54:11and I love him so much already and I love my deaf friends.
0:54:11 > 0:54:15So it's good to have, like, a balance between the two of them,
0:54:15 > 0:54:17like two different worlds to be involved in.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23As Sencity is such a unique event,
0:54:23 > 0:54:26deaf people have travelled from all over Europe
0:54:26 > 0:54:27to experience what it has to offer.
0:54:50 > 0:54:55Meghan has come with her best friend Connor.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04Tonight is the first time that she's met Sara and Asher.
0:55:11 > 0:55:14Sencity offers an assault on all the senses.
0:55:16 > 0:55:18There's a vibrating dancefloor.
0:55:19 > 0:55:23Aroma jockeys mixing scents to match the music.
0:55:24 > 0:55:29And there are even taste sensations to be experienced.
0:55:29 > 0:55:34- INTERPRETER: - When you first go in, it's like the whole place is vibrating.
0:55:37 > 0:55:41INTERPRETER: I can't hear the music, but I can feel the vibrations.
0:55:43 > 0:55:46The best thing about tonight is meeting friends,
0:55:46 > 0:55:49seeing lots of people, drinking and enjoying ourselves.
0:55:49 > 0:55:52Seeing friends from all over the place.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06- Yeah, I suppose so. - Like a culture.
0:56:14 > 0:56:17- Definitely. Definitely. Definitely. - Yeah.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49Subtitling by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:56:49 > 0:56:52E-mail: subtitling@bbc.co.uk