How My Hearing Changed Overnight
When I was working as a care home manager, I loved my job. Making a direct, positive difference in people’s lives was everything to me.
Then, in 2016, my life changed overnight. A sudden drop in my hearing, plunging me from severe to profound deafness.
Up until then, I had relied on a combination of lipreading and residual sound to navigate daily conversations. But without functional sound, lipreading becomes an intense game of guesswork. You fill in gaps, second-guess words, and open the door to frequent errors. I became exhausted from the sheer effort it took to follow what people said in meetings and everyday exchanges.
At work, the impact was immediate. I could no longer be sure that the conversations I had with staff and residents were what I thought they were. Communication broke down, and my confidence plummeted.
Looking back, I know I wasn’t the easiest person for my employer to support. I was in denial about how severe the loss really was. At the same time, my workplace lacked the guidance needed to support a staff member through sudden sensory loss. That combination led to a series of painful and avoidable mistakes. Eventually, I left my job to receive a cochlear implant.
While the implant restored some sound, my self-assurance had taken a massive hit.
What I Needed and Couldn’t Find
What I desperately needed during that period wasn’t a standard employment programme or off-the-shelf advice. I needed three things:
- Targeted Coaching: A safe, tailored space to process what I needed and rebuild my self-advocacy.
- Peer Support: To realise I wasn’t alone and to unpack shared challenges with deaf and hard of hearing people who understood.
- Practical Techniques & Accessible Tech: Communication strategies and non-technical guidance on how to make hearing aids, implants, and assistive tools actually work for me.
None of it existed in one place. That gap is what became the Sensory Pathway Project.
The Three Pillars of Sensory Pathway
As a qualified coach, lipreading teacher, and former employee across many sectors, I understand the profound emotional upheaval a change in hearing causes, regardless of where you fall on the audiogram.
We don’t measure eligibility by how much hearing you have left; we focus on what you need to rebuild your confidence, advocate for yourself at work, and reclaim your potential. The programme offers all three pillars above: coaching, peer support, and practical technique.
Who This Is For
This is a 6-month pilot programme with limited spaces. Our goal is to walk alongside you, share practical techniques to help you avoid the pitfalls I faced, and collect the stories of transformation that will help us expand this work in the future.
Communication works two ways. If you or someone you know is navigating a shift in hearing and feeling isolated, please reach out.
[ Apply to the Sensory Pathway Project ]
Or if you’d rather talk it through first, [book a short call], no commitment, just a conversation. You don’t have to figure it out alone.
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