Deaf Girly's return to work
Deafinitely girly When I went on maternity leave last August, one of the things I never considered was that I'd be returning to work in the middle of a global pandemic. But in May this year, that's just what I did. Before I went on maternity leave, I had been working both in the office and from home and it was great. I'd have video calls with my colleagues around the world at odd tim...
Tue, Sep 29 2020

Deaf Girly and the (Covid-19) face masks
Deafinitely girly There's been a lot in the news and on social media recently addressing the issues around face masks and deaf people being able to lipread. Poorna Bell wrote this piece for the iPaper about how deaf people are being affected by the Coronavirus crisis.I'll admit, this subject scares me so much, I've not really wanted to talk about it. Or think about it actually.One of m...
Wed, May 06 2020

Deaf motherhood: baby talk
Deafinitely girly This month, FFB has learnt that his voice can do more than just yell, giggle, screech and cry. He's learning that he can also make more distinct sounds. And he started with b.We had two whole days of him concentrating so hard he almost went crosseyed to get his little mouth to form the right shape and then off he went with a flurry of b-b-b-b-bs and bobobobobobos and ...
Mon, May 04 2020

Deaf motherhood: baby sleep
Deafinitely girly I was never going to be one of those people who rushed moving my baby into their own room. The anxiety I had about hearing FFB started long before he was born, and a bedside crib was the only place I wanted him at night for the first 7 months.As well as being deaf, I am also extremely short sighted. So from the moment FFB was born, I've slept with my glasses on every ...
Wed, Apr 29 2020

Navigating the emotions of deaf motherhood
Deafinitely girly Today our little family - me, FJM and FFB were meant to be going to the cinema to see a subtitled screaming of Frozen 2.As you can imagine FJM was not exactly excited about it but one of the many things I love about that man is his complete support when it comes to my deafness and, if something is subtitled, knowing how rare it is, he will always come with me.I was re...
Wed, Jan 01 2020

Success for Subtitled Cinema
Deafinitely girly Today is a very thankful Friday. Why? Because I am able to report on an amazing development in our quest for subtitled cinema.It's a local one... but it gives me hope that change will eventually come.So let's start at the beginning shall we?As you know, I've been helping Deafie Blogger with her fantastic subtitled cinema campaign for a while now.  We've had some prog...
Fri, Dec 20 2019

Deaf Girly and the things that go beep
Deafinitely girly Things that go beep fascinate me.Mainly because I’ve never heard beeps. Not even when I was younger and less deaf.When I found out I was deaf at 10, beeps and birds singing were two sounds I discovered existed but couldn’t hear. Even with hearing aids - not that I ever wore them back then. After all, 1990s hearing aids were definitely not on my list of favourite t...
Fri, Dec 06 2019

Deaf Girly does Sky News
Deafinitely girly This time last week,  I had just experienced my first ever TV appearance. On Sky News. And I loved it.So how did a deaf anonymous blogger end up on Sky News with her face in full view?Well, it's because of subtitles and how important they are.Since I first started my blog way back in 2008, I've been fighting for better subtitles. Back in the day when iPlayer didn't h...
Fri, Aug 02 2019

Deaf Girly and the viral tweet
Deafinitely girly Back in May, during Deaf Awareness Week, I put out the following tweet: and then went to lunch with ma and thought very little about it, until part of the way through eating my cheese and ham crepe, my phone started going stark raving mad and the tweet took off. At first it was mainly my followers who were commenting and showing their support of subtitles but g...
Thu, Jul 25 2019

Deaf Girly's Deaf Awareness Week wishes
Deafinitely girly It's Deaf Awareness Week this week - it officially started yesterday but it was a Bank Holiday and I was having a largely tech-free day of wandering around London getting some fresh air. But here I am today, raring to go. This year is a little different for me. This year, I've made the decision to collaborate with a brilliant company on something very important -...
Tue, May 07 2019

Deaf Girly's five New Year's Resolutions
Deafinitely girly Happy New Year peeps.Wow, 2019! That means I am now in the 11th year of blogging here on DeafinitelyGirly.com.When I started out, it was a bit of a therapy for me. It was a place I could have a rant about things, and when I look back, it's amazing to see how much of what I was ranting about has now changed.The subtitles on BBC iPlayer are mostly flawless now. Back whe...
Wed, Jan 02 2019

Subtitled Cinema: Daydreaming of a better deaf world
Deafinitely girly Sometimes, just sometimes, I allow myself the chance to daydream about all the things on my deaf wishlist coming true...It's a bit like when you daydream about what you'd do if you won the lottery, only better but sadly less likely.Top of my list is getting accessible cinema for all D/deaf people. That means something that ticks boxes for as many deaf people as possib...
Tue, Oct 16 2018

Deaf Girly and subitled Mamma Mia: Here we go again
Deafinitely girly Regular readers and my followers on Twitter will know that recently I've been talking a lot about the lack of subtitled showings available at UK cinemas.And I am not alone in my rage or my quest to change this. But we are hitting brick walls.Anyway, last night, I finally got to watch Mamma Mia 2 with subtitles at the cinema – Vue only provide subtitled movies on Tue...
Wed, Aug 15 2018

Deaf Girly: Finding the good in my deafness
Deafinitely girly Most regular readers of this blog will know that I'm pretty comfortable with my deafness in the workplace these days. I've got a job I love that I am fully supported in by amazing colleagues and my manager. I am pretty comfortable about talking about my deafness, too. Demystifying it. Putting it out there. Challenging people to think about what it's like for me. And...
Fri, Jul 13 2018

Celebrating the 4th of July
Deafinitely girly Apart from my own wedding back in December, one of the best weddings I have ever been to happened 20 years ago today, in London.It was the summer I finished my A-levels. I was 17 and had travelled down to London a few days earlier to hang out with London Aunt and London Uncle. It was amazing weather like this, too. I remember because I had this stripy skater dress tha...
Wed, Jul 04 2018

5 Deaf Girly Life Hacks for Deaf Awareness Week
Deafinitely girly Deafness throws many things at me but one of the most noticable things is the ability to make me feel ALL the emotions possible in the space of about a minute. Happy, Sad, Frustrated, Angry, Embarrassed, Shy, Empowered, Upset, Hysterical, Exhausted, Inspired, Creative But how do I deal with them all? Aside from medicating with copious amounts of chocolate? Her...
Thu, May 17 2018

Deaf Girly and education
Deafinitely girly It's Day Three of Deaf Awareness week. Gosh that's going fast isn't it?I couldn't talk about all things deafness without covering education - but I warn you that this isn't the most positive subject for me. It's not something I find it easy to write about in my usual jovial manner. However, it turns out it's rather topical at the moment because apparently one third of...
Wed, May 16 2018

Deaf Girly's deafness dos and don'ts
Deafinitely girly It's the second day of Deaf Awareness Week and today I'm making it all about me. Here are the 10 dos and don'ts about my deafness. The things that will make me happy, sad and mad!! DO remember that deafness doesn't define meIt's part of who I am but it's not all I want to be remembered or known for... It's a fine balance between understanding my needs and assuming th...
Tue, May 15 2018

Deaf Girly's Deaf Awareness Week
Deafinitely girly This week I am celebrating Deaf Awareness Week 4,500 miles away from London in a country so hot that I had to take out my hearing aids yesterday as I could feel the heat of the casing behind my ears. It's 44 degrees centigrade, people!Anyway, Deaf Awareness Week is a brilliant time to find out new things about hearing loss and deafness, and I truly believe that there'...
Mon, May 14 2018

Deaf Girly's 522nd Thankful Friday
Deafinitely girly Bringing my 10th birthday week to a close, it seems apt to write a Thankful Friday post. Back in the early days, I used to do one of these every week, but nowadays they're reserved for special occasions.And this Thankful Friday is really about the fact that FJM is unexpectedly back in the country. For one week. ONE WHOLE WEEK! *beamsIt's very nice to be in the same co...
Fri, Apr 27 2018

Deafinitely Girly turns 10!
Deafinitely girly On this day, 10 years ago, I published my very first blog on DeafinitelyGirly.com. I'd never blogged before but after someone challenged me to write my ideal column, Deaf Girly was born. I am so glad she was.Deaf Girly helped me navigate my way through some incredibly challenging personal and professional times in my twenties. She was my voice when I just wanted to â€...
Mon, Apr 23 2018

Deaf Girly and the deaf heroine in Dark Pines
Deafinitely girly So today is a very thankful Friday.Today I learnt from The Bookseller that Lionsgate – think Mad Men, Orange is the New Black – has optioned television rights for Will Dean's fabulous first book Dark Pines.Tuva Moodyson should soon (taps foot impatiently) be on a TV screen near you. A deaf main character. Who doesn't sign but speaks. Who struggles to fight the ste...
Fri, Apr 06 2018

Deaf Girly and captioned Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Deafinitely girly Last week something very exciting happened. Eighteen months after buying the tickets for me and FJM, we finally got to head to the Palace Theatre to watch Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with Stagetext captions... and it was AMAZING. I've written a lot about the importance of captions and how about before I knew I was deaf and even once I knew I was deaf, I simply...
Mon, Apr 02 2018

Deaf Girly and International Women's Day
Deafinitely girly Today is International Women's Day. And this year's theme is #PressforProgress.Now, I am going to be honest with you, this is the first year I've ever really got my head around International Women's Day and a lot of that has to do with the company I've been contracting for. It's an amazing global company with some incredible women in senior positions who are all commi...
Thu, Mar 08 2018

Deaf Girly wants choices
Deafinitely girly The other night, I tweeted the following words: "As a deaf person, it seems the one thing I'm fighting for more and more is choices. Options of which night to go to the cinema or theatre, a choice of what TV channel to watch, which TED talk to listen to, YouTube video to watch. We have less choice in life." Ok, maybe not the most succinct or eloquent tweet in the w...
Wed, Jan 31 2018

Deaf Girly and Naomi Broady
Deafinitely girly There's no getting away from the fact that I am a massive tennis fan... FJM really helped me fall in love with tennis because he explained what the commentators were saying and so instead of just watching the tennis on TV with no real idea what was going on, he gave me an insight into the actual game.It was amazing. I went from having no interest in tennis, because I ...
Tue, Jan 30 2018

Deaf Girly and the iPhone
Deafinitely girly I'm pretty happy with how I've hacked my life to make it work for me as a deaf person. In the absence of a hearing dog, I've rigged up an iPad baby alarm for the front door bell. I book meals out over apps on my phone, my GP surgery finally has a non-urgent online appointment system and I can text, FaceTime and picture message just about everyone I know. My life feels...
Fri, Jan 05 2018

Deaf Girly got married
Deafinitely girly Happy New Year peeps! It's 2018... I remember being excited about it being the year 2000... how on earth did it get to here so quickly?Anyway, as most of you already know, the end of 2017 was pretty special because FJM and I got married. On 17.12.17... a nice tidy date if you like that sort of thing.I blogged a little bit in the run up to the wedding about how I got a...
Wed, Jan 03 2018

Deaf Girly and Captioning Awareness Week
Deafinitely girly This week - from 6-11 November it's Captioning Awareness Week, which raises awareness of captioning and live subtitling.It's a bold statement but I'm going to go ahead and make it: Captioning saves lives And let me tell you how...For me, saving someone's life isn't just about restarting their heart, curing them of some hideous disease or pushing them out of the way of...
Thu, Nov 09 2017

Deaf Girly and subtitled Star Wars The Last Jedi
Deafinitely girly Today really is a very Thankful Friday.Last night, FJM and I were doing some #HOTY (honeymoon of the year) planning and yet again said how much we'd love to have a date night at the cinema in Edinburgh to see Star Wars: The Last Jedi when we up there for our honeymoon.FJM is a massive Star Wars fan, and he's always been very lovely at waiting until a subtitled showin...
Fri, Nov 03 2017

Deaf Girly on being brave
Deafinitely girly Every year on this day, I write a blog. It's always a blog about one of the best people I know. A blog about beer, Flashdance and Grand Designs. About learning to live in and love London.Memories are funny aren't they. Sometimes I struggle to remember what I did last week, but the memories of London Uncle are so super clear.So always on this day I remember him. Let of...
Fri, Oct 20 2017

Deaf Girly and the wedding planning
Deafinitely girly My first novel is about a deaf girl planning her wedding. When I first started writing it, I was single and couldn't ever imagine planning my own wedding. And yet here I am planning it. I find planning anything as a deaf person quite stressful. The quick and easy 'pick up the phone' option is not available to me, and with FJM in another country, I found myself getti...
Sat, Oct 07 2017

Deaf Girly and the deaf wobble
Deafinitely girly Usually when I go quiet on here, it's a sign that everything in my deaf world is tickety-boo and marvellous. It's a sign that I am comfortable in my deaf skin and ambling my way through life with the level of accessibility that I need. Usually the silences are good.I'd be lying if I said this was the case right now.I've taken a new job. I love this job. Fiercely love ...
Tue, Sep 05 2017

Deaf Girly and classical music
Deafinitely girly I didn't know I couldn't hear until I was 10.I have this really clear memory of seeing two girls signing to each other in a garden centre when I was about six years old and being fascinated about the idea of being deaf... little did I know, I already was.I didn't know that birds sang or green men beeped or that song lyrics were meant to be understood. I thought dictat...
Mon, Jun 19 2017

Deaf Girly: 5 things I wish I'd known about work at 23
Deafinitely girly I got my first dream job aged 23 in London. It had never occurred to me that I would struggle to find work because of my deafness, but in all honesty I think back then I added a hefty dose of denial to just how deaf I was. But if I could go back and give my 23-year-old self some advice, what would it be?1. Be fearlessBack then, I was scared of many, many things. Livin...
Wed, May 17 2017

Deaf Girly: 10 things I love about my deafness
Deafinitely girly Ok, so this week is Deaf Awareness Week and my Twitter is filled with fabulous infosnacks about deafness and advice and wotnot. It's brilliant.If there's one thing being deaf and the experiences that come with that have taught me, it's that no one size fits all with deafness. It's personal. And no one can tell you how you should be feeling or hearing.So with that in ...
Mon, May 15 2017

Deaf Girly and the London Underground
Deafinitely girly Yesterday evening, I got to watch the third episode of Inside the Tube: Going Underground presented by Rob Bell – and his Rab jacket – on Demand 5 after subtitles were finally added! And it did not disappoint. In fact, it's a must for anyone with a love of our amazing underground network.I've had a fascination with the London Underground since I was a little gir...
Wed, May 10 2017

Deaf Girly and the Great British Dog Walk
Deafinitely girly Last weekend, I was invited to take part in the Hearing Dogs Great British Dog Walk at Windsor Great Park and it was brilliant fun. This annual event helps raise money for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and there are 20 walks around the UK – at time of writing there are still 11 walks you can get involved in too, from Exeter to Aberdeen... (although not literally of ...
Wed, May 03 2017

Why Deaf Girly doesn't carry cash
Deafinitely girly Back in February, I took part in a two-day induction at Hearing Dogs – there's a big blog coming soon about that – as part of my application process. It was amazing and I met so many wonderful people and had so many lightbulb moments about my deafness while talking to them.One of the loveliest people I met – Tracy – took me, and an adorable Hearing Dog, to a g...
Tue, Apr 11 2017

Deaf Girly and the Fitbit Blaze
Deafinitely girly I'm a bit of a tech geek - always have been, which was quite exciting in the 1980s and 90s when technology was moving at a fair old pace. I remember the first time I got a caption reader to add subtitles to videos, my mind was blown. When mobile phones came out, I got a really early one – a brick-like Panasonic with a capacity for 10 text messages and a massive k...
Wed, Apr 05 2017

Deaf Girly and the opticians
Deafinitely girly When it comes to vision and hearing, I am unfortunately blessed with very bad levels of both. I am comedy short-sighted, to the point that, if I was ever without my glasses or contact lenses, I would have a lot of difficulty navigating my way anywhere.I first realised just how short sighted I was while on a climbing trip at university. We were staying in a cheap camps...
Mon, Apr 03 2017

Deafinitely Girly world of employment
Deafinitely girly This morning, I read the latest report from the brilliant charity Scope about 'Why we need to see changes in support for disabled people in work' and it really struck a chord for me.I am disabled. I lie awake at night worrying about my job prospects and where my career is going. About my earning potential and the restrictions my disability places on my ability to do j...
Tue, Feb 14 2017

Deaf Girly and Jose Gonzalez
Deafinitely girly One of the highlights of this week – apart from a very lovely dinner with Fab Friend last night – was seeing José Gonzalez play live at the Royal Festival Hall with The Goteborg String Theory. I've loved José Gonzalez since I first saw him perform live in the mid 2000s – there's something about the richness of his voice, the lightness of his touch on the guit...
Fri, Jan 27 2017

Deaf Girly and the Gap advert
Deafinitely girly Yesterday was a beautifully sunny day and so I decided to go for a walk to get the things I needed to make curry that evening.On my way to the supermarket I walked past Gap's window and – as I am blessed with four fabulous godchildren – I took a look in the window to see what spring offerings were on show and what winter sale bargains there might be.And this caugh...
Mon, Jan 23 2017

Deaf Girly and the emergency sirens
Deafinitely girly One of the things I really don't hear – not even a little bit, not even at all, not even with my fancy Phonak hearing aids in – is ambulance sirens. I just about hear police sirens, if there's not too much background noise, and I can hear the low honking noise that fire engines make in built-up areas, but ambulances, I just cannot hear.I've had some near misses wi...
Wed, Jan 18 2017

Deaf Girly and the (inaccessible) Christmas Movies
Deafinitely girly One of my favourite things about Christmas – aside from the lovely family gatherings, endless snacks and chocolate, the sparkly tree and presents – is the festive movies. I absolutely love a Christmas film. Even terrible ones... and believe me, there are some terrible ones out there.There's just something about them – the warm and fuzzy feelings, the amazing sce...
Fri, Dec 30 2016

Deaf Girly downloads Netflix with subtitles
Deafinitely girly Today is thankful Friday and on waking this morning I was very thankful to receive an email from Netflix.In this email, Netflix told me that the recent iOS app update meant that I could now download programmes to watch offline!!I know!This was almost as exciting as when BBC iPlayer released this feature.But, being deaf and endlessly disappointed by these sort of thing...
Fri, Dec 02 2016

Deaf Girly visits John Lewis Haberdashery
Deafinitely girly Two weeks ago, after reading a news article in The Telegraph which said that John Lewis Haberdashery would be closing, I did something I've never done before – I set up a petition. A petition appealing to anyone who had ever bought a button to sign and show their love for John Lewis Haberdashery department. I'm sat here in a cafe in central London looking at ...
Fri, Nov 25 2016

Deaf Girly & the John Lewis petition update
Deafinitely girly So yesterday was a bit of a weird day – but weird in a good way.On Monday night, when I set up the 'Save John Lewis Haberdashery please...' petition, I had no idea that it would gain nearly 5,000 signatures. Or that I would receive an email of reassurance from John Lewis that haberdashery was safe – and more importantly not being downgraded. Nor did I have any...
Wed, Nov 09 2016

Deaf Girly's John Lewis Haberdashery update
Deafinitely girly Ok, so my Twitter followers will know that yesterday I set up a petition to save John Lewis Haberdashery departments after news articles appeared on The Telegraph and The Pool.  And here's why I did it! When I was four years old, my grandmother made me a party dress. It was white, with puffed sleeves and the prettiest pink floral smocking across the front. I wore t...
Tue, Nov 08 2016