Written by:

Stuart McNaughton

Stuart McNaughton is an AB employee, responsible for the AB Community Programme in Europe, Middle East, Latin America and Asia Pacific. Stuart is a qualified Counsellor and a Certified Coach and dedicates his time to helping others.   A keen writer, Stuart wrote a book, He Is Not Me, which charts his journey to hearing, and he is currently creating a YouTube series to celebrate twenty years of life with hearing. You can find it by searching "CI20" at YouTube.com.

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Deafness Made Me Who I Am Today

Fri, 11 Jun 2021 By Stuart McNaughton

It might sound weird, but losing my hearing as a baby was one of the best things ever to happen to me. I see that now. From the moment my parents noticed I stopped responding to their voices, until the moment I was diagnosed two and a half years later, I observed the world with my eyes. I still do. Many times, my Mum has repeated the story: “They told me you were either incredibly deaf or incredibly stupid.” Forty years on, my Mum is still in disbelief that a medical professional would label a four-year-old boy in this way, but we have to remember this was in 1981. Attitudes have, fortunately, changed enormously.