Love is Deaf!

Ears

Everyone seems to have them on either side of their head.

They look the same but some are different.

Some are sticky out.

Some are big.

Some have big lobes.

Some have earrings hanging off them

Some work better than others. Some don’t work at all.

Some work just a little bit.

Imagine yours not working at all. Could anyone tell just by looking at you that you couldn’t hear?

How would you feel?

What would you miss hearing?

Heather Harding (Sign name: Nanny glasses / Specs)

This is a phone conversation between a mother and her nephew in front of a deaf daughter who wears a cochlear implant.

Imagine yourself as a deaf daughter trying to understand the phone conversation between her mother and cousin.

Ashlea Jones (Sign name: A in Asl – in a circle) 

Deafness to me is beautiful, but this picture represents a deaf person in a hearing world, lonely, frustrating and longing, seeing all different groups of people laughing and chatting, but not knowing which group I fit in.

Peyton McDonnell (Sign name: Eyelashes)

The feeling of isolation in a group.

Feeling excluded by people who are talking and not deaf aware.

Diane Heyes: (Sign name: Wolf)

Barrier – I rely.

Hilary Gartland (Sign name: Hill)

The Day Sound Opened Wide

They nestled gently by my ear,

And suddenly, the world felt near.

A hum, a chirp, the softest tone –

I felt the sounds I'd never known.

A giggle bounced across the floor,

A ticking clock I’d missed before.

The wind that whispered through the trees –

Now sang a song upon the breeze.

Each note, each footstep, crisp and bright,

The morning wrapped in golden light.

I turned, I smiled, my heart so full –

The world no longer soft or dull.

It wasn’t loss – it wasn’t lack –

But gaining sounds I never had back.

And in that moment, side by side,

The world and I were amplified.

Lottie Millington (Sign name: Grey)

I suffer from anxiety when I'm alone, I get frightened and often feel isolated. I get frustrated with having no-one to communicate with. I hold every emotion in, but inside my silent voice is screaming.

Rachel Goodwin (Sign name: ASL R)

The hand sign ‘I love you’ means so much more than just those three words to our family.

My granddaughter was born incredibly early at 25 weeks 4 days weighing just 1lb 14oz. Helplessly watching her fighting for her life on Arrowe Park’s Neonatal Unit was not only harrowing but terrifying, too.

We are forever grateful to the amazing team of doctors and nurses there because of their dedication and expertise she survived. The day before she left the unit she failed her hearing test. This was the first and only sign we’d had that she may be deaf. She left the hospital on Wednesday 9th March 2016 with an appointment for another hearing test on Monday 14th March.

As soon as my daughter returned home she rang crying and said: “Mum, I need you, Neve is profoundly deaf”. I remember driving to her house feeling so, so scared. I wrapped my arms around my daughter and just held her. She was sobbing, saying “She’ll never hear me sing and she’ll never hear me say I love you”.

At the time this broke my heart, especially as she’d had to fight so hard just to be here. I felt as if life had dealt her a cruel blow, I feared for her future and felt completely out of my depth, especially because I didn’t know anyone else who was deaf.

However, out of the darkness came a beautiful light.

Hearing support came and taught us some signs, the most important one being the sign for ‘I love you.’ Through Neve’s deafness we have met the most wonderful, kind and helpful people at our signing group. Neve has also been lucky enough to have been able to have cochlear implants. Now not only can Neve sign ‘I love you’, she can also say it, too.

She is 9 now. At the moment her dream is to be a teacher of the deaf when she’s older.

Vicki Earp (Sign name: Trouble)

I chose to be photographed underwater. Why?Once you are involved with the Deaf community you get submerged in a whole new world.BSL sign for ‘welcome’.While learning BSL I realised I did not know anyone deaf who I could practise signing with, so I found this group, now I have friends who are all patient and supportive helping me to learn. They are welcoming and non judgemental and make every meeting fun.

As a hearing person I decided to learn BSL just to have another language, but what a world I have been introduced to! The Deaf community are so welcoming and their history and culture are fascinating.BSL sign for ‘barrier’.Being involved with a deaf group I get to hear about all the barriers and discriminations D/deaf people face in 2025. It shocks me, when we are all expected to be treated equally, fairly and have no discrimination in a modern society.

Peter Crellin (Sign name: Actor)

Lip-Reading

I can’t lip-read when somebody wears a protective face covering. I thought face coverings were only necessary in medical environments such as hospitals. However, recently I had an appointment for a contact lenses check up, unfortunately the optician was wearing a medical face covering. I had to make her aware I am deaf and I rely on lipreading. Her reason for wearing the face covering was because she was “full of cold”. However, she did take the face mask off, but she made it clear that she wasn’t happy about it.

Charlotte Griffiths (Sign name: Sparkle)

Support

I took this photograph of my mother’s hands after I moved back in with my parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. She needed a picture that would promote Deaf Awareness on social media. This BSL sign can be interpreted as ‘support’. During the pandemic, many BSL interpreters worked on the front lines alongside doctors and nurses as they interpreted for deaf people in hospitals, in local surgeries, and in the homes of patients.

As with medical staff, BSL interpreters risked their health and their lives to support patients. Interpreters braved the known hazards and the uncertainties of 2020 and 2021. To a BSL interpreter, however, this is just an extension of their supportive role and many interpreters think that less time should be spent praising them, and more time should be spent supporting the deserving Deaf Community.

Jack Walker (Sign name: Tall)

Hard of Hearing: In noisy environments, without hearing aids or BSL, we miss conversation detail. It’s like the difference between wearing glasses and not wearing glasses, without the aid of glasses we miss the detail.

Peter Martin (Sign name: Technology)

Beauty

Different shapes, different sizes, different colours, different ways.What makes you different, makes you beautiful.

Sue Walker: (Sign name: Walk)

Recreation of Adam

This photograph shows the hand of my hearing friend Sue (sign name: Hedgehog). On the 

right is the hand of my Deaf friend Diane (sign name: Wolf).

I was playing around with ideas for this exhibition and I came up with this parody of Michelangelo’s ‘Creation of Adam’. I wanted to show how different communities (Deaf and hearing), 

who walk on the same streets, can sometimes feel that they belong to different worlds. But 

we can stay connected by using shapes we make with our hands.With having Deaf friends and as a BSL interpreter, I probably use sign language as much as spoken English. BSL is my 

life now. It is my recreation.

I look forward to a place where hearing people can use BSL to communicate with their Deaf 

friends and colleagues, where there are no barriers and a place where our two worlds 

become one.

Sue Walker: (Sign name: Walk)

Barriers

I’ve often been told that my hair is my ‘crown and beauty’ by many people, and that my curly hair is a big part of my identity. However, when my hair is down, my ‘crown’ becomes a communication barrier to my mum who is profoundly deaf. On journeys walking, or in the car, mum will ask me to move my hair out of the way.

Why would this be a problem you might ask?

To a deaf, or hard of hearing person, lip-reading is a vital part of communication! Whether it is a face-to-face conversation, or side-by-side driving in the car, distractions around the face can be very difficult. This can result in frustration and isolation, as clear communication can not be achieved, and can have a detrimental effect on the person’s mood and confidence.

When I am driving now, I sometimes don’t realise my hair is a barrier to a conversation with mum. When asked ‘Can you move your hair out of the way please?’, it is done straight away without hesitation!

Be deaf aware – distractions around the face can hinder a conversation.

Vickie Wylde (sign name: Lion)