National Week of Deaf People: Meet HSS’s Paul Crawford

Occurring each September, the National Week of Deaf People (NWDP) is an opportunity for deaf people to celebrate their communities, language, culture, and history. It’s also an opportunity for organisations and individuals to ally with the Deaf community and learn how to better support them.

Paul Crawford, Partner Services Officer in ICT Infrastructure at HSS, was born profoundly deaf. Diagnosed at just six months of age, he has never heard what speaking actually sounds like.

At first, he was fitted with a body aid, the type of auditory aid offered to children at the time, and later he received bilateral behind the ear hearing aids.

“When I first got my hearing aids, Mum had to tape them to my ears as I was known to bury them in the sandpit or throw them in a bucket of water or in the toilet, which meant they had to be sent off for a repair – not a quick fix while living in Port Hedland. It could be 10 days before I would have ‘my ears’ back!” he said.

When Paul was 11 years old, he was fitted with his first cochlear implant – just the 13^th child in WA to undergo the surgery. He received his second implant around a decade later.

“The biggest difference between the two devices is that with hearing aids, I couldn’t hear the birds sing from the trees, but the cochlear implants could pick that up. It was amazing.

“I remember my mum and dad were crying the whole day when I got the cochlear implant. I could hear the ambulance driving past, the police cars, their sirens.”

Paul explained that cochlear implants bypass damaged portions of the ear and directly stimulate the auditory nerve. Sound perceived through a cochlear implant is not the same as the sound heard with normal hearing.

“Due to the degree of my deafness, even with two cochlears, I still don’t hear the higher pitch sounds, which means I don’t always hear the complete word.  I then have to try and lipread what I don’t hear, or in a sentence I may miss a word altogether. This in turn effects my speech, the understanding of language, and also my use of grammar.”

Paul is a father to three young boys, loves playing sports, travelling up north in his caravan, and has been working with HSS for around three years.

“Deafness is described as an invisible disability, and I have certainly felt this on occasions. People often don’t appreciate how difficult it is not to hear and to not always understand what is being said.

“I find sometimes people will avoid engaging in conversation for fear of not understanding me or knowing what to say. I understand this, but I am always happy if people don’t understand me to ask me for clarification, as I will of them,” he said.

If you’re interested in learning more about Australian Sign Language (Auslan), visit the Auslan Signbank. The Deaf Australia website also has more information about the National Week of Deaf People.