The last meeting of the Sexual Health and Disability Alliance SHADA, listened to people who live with hearing loss and no hearing. There are those born deaf who use signing, those who lose their hearing who use lip reading , and those who use hearing aids who might also use lip reading.

We were sad that Action on Hearing Loss ignored our invitations to come and speak, and we wonder what they do, as nobody mentioned they had been supported by them. Members attending the meeting realised how different hearing loss is to other impairments. Signers often stick with their own community and are not so isolated and there are some groups for other isolated people but not enough support. GPs and hospital staff are ignorant and many people treat them badly. Basically, they have a rough ride.