We now
are in March! Blimey time does fly quickly doesn't it!
Now
spring is in the air (sort of!) I have been making strides with my dissertation
and my first draft is done, now for the boring part- checking the work for
spelling and grammar checks!
Some people have told me that they are
confused about why I haven't finished my dissertation, well people who have
been following my blog will know I was having difficulties maintaining three
work placements as well finding it hard to get excited about writing a
dissertation with other essays on top which meant I neglected the dissertation
and scraped together a plausible piece of work which failed (clearly!).
When I re-took this module again in
September 2012, I was hoping to have it done by January 2013 in time for the
mid-year graduation but illnesses and depression got in the way YET again as
well struggling with a lecturer who kept putting down my use of the English
language. So I returned to my previous dissertation and am in the process of
polishing it.
When I read it again, I cringed at
how badly written it was and how much stuff I missed out! My Deaf Studies
lecturer said it was a good piece of work but a lot needed to be done regarding
referencing, layout, and restructuring to meet the History department's
standards. (BORING)
So I'm
hoping to have it all done by end of April, it could be done a lot quicker but
I only have one hour of English support a week which mean a very sloooow
progress! If anyone fancies proof reading 10 thousand words on the Milan
Congress 1880- let me know! It would be a great help!
I went to
see the audiology recently as I wanted new pair of hearing aids as I haven’t worn my current ones for a long time due to rubbish
earmoulds and the hearing aids never sound right to me! So after failing to
book an interpreter for the appointment as I couldn’t get through at all so I turned up for my appointment at
half 9 in the morning.
I first had a hearing test and was
told to wait in the waiting room for someone to come along. So I was called up
and met an audiologist who looked very sad and said to me that she had bad new
for me…. It seem that I have suffered
a hearing loss, which made me Deaf, and she was very sorry to break that news
to me.
My reaction- I laughed and told her
that I have already known that all my life! I have a deaf family and all that.
She assumed I was a new patient with an unexplained hearing loss looking for
help. Poor lady, I don’t think she did not know how
to deal with me!
She then found a member of staff that
has level 2 BSL that is better than nothing. The signer was nice and did my
moulds and while we were waiting for them to set, we talked about possible
hearing losses so she compared my last hearing test in 2008 and the recent one
that day- it was EXCATLY the same! She was gobsmacked!
We then discussed how the audiology
could provide better access for deaf people in terms of booking interpreters,
alternative methods of contact. I was given a direct number for a senior member
of the staff oo eh!
A mere 4 weeks later I received
brand new spanking hearing aids and tested them out by watching an interpreted
performance of Cats in the Grand theatre. Was pleased they did not whistle!
This time I had an interpreter at the audiology, which meant communication was better
and I could really ask questions and ask for advice about tinnitus as I have
been having a really rough time with it. They have said they will refer me to
an ENT doc to chat about it!
I seem to have a lot of medical
appointments! I also went for a smear test which I believe is very important,
two women I knew kept putting their off as they thought it wasn’t important and couldn’t be bothered to find the time
for an appointment. Due to me nagging one of them to go and have it done, it
was discover that she had pre cancerous cells and it was caught early and
needed laser treatment. If it were left for another month or so it would have
progressed to cervical cancer.
So the other woman realised that she
have not had a smear test for a long time so she went and the results was pre
cancerous cells which was given treatment as well.
This scared the crap out of me and I
always arrange a smear test when it is time for a check up. It is only a few
minutes of discomfort and smear tests these days are better than when I was
younger (in Scotland women over 21 have smear tests unlike in England where
women over 25 are tested), it was a metal thingy, which was horrible!
So if you have got a letter asking
you for a smear test check, go for it! The nurses/doctors has seen it all
before so nothing to be embarrassed of!
University
of Wolverhampton did an open day for deaf students and deaf people who was
considering going to university. The CSU did this in partnership with DEAF- Deaf Education Advocacy
Fellowship. The organiser Esmail was keen to raise awareness to deaf people
that they can go to university as well provide access to information such as
DSA, funding etc.
The day was successful despite some
snow! There were some workshops, some talks, and a guided tour. I got a very
lovely teal hoody to keep: D
DEAF CIC will be doing more open days
with various universities, look here for more information- http://www.deaf-fellowship.org
TALKING TO ONE OF THE LECTURERS
I am looking forward to April as there will be a University
ball for Deaf students, interpreting and Deaf Studies students as well members
of the SLS (Sign Language Society which is similar to D/BSL based in ULAN) as
well Deaf Graduates from University of Wolverhampton. This will take place in
the Molineux Stadium (Wolverhampton Wanderers' home ground).
The S.E.C (Student Enabling Centre
formerly know as C.S.U- Communication Support Unit) based in the university is
celebrating their 20th anniversary providing BSL interpreters, manual and
electronic note-takers to Deaf and Hard of Hearing students.
It has been a long road to organising this event! There are currently
only three Deaf female students (It was hard to find volunteers at all!)
liaising with the S.E.C organising this event.
I'm one of the students helping; I am selling tickets (which I am
honestly rubbish at! give me PR and money any day, I'm better at these!) I have
to say I am obsessive and think a lot about promoting etc.- maybe I should try
event planning one day... mm food for thought!
The photo below is from the SLS Ball 2012- I was rather sloshed and I also won the Best-Dressed female :D
I am
managing well with my depression, but some times it can take a turn for the worse,
which led me to staying in bed for 3 days recently, crying and feeling quite
alone. Some friends managed to cheer me up a bit but it wasn't enough to pull
me out of the dark hole I was in. I wouldn't blame my friends if they saw my
tweets/texts and ran a mile as I am aware how hard it is to support someone
with a mental illness when they don't understand WHY it is not simple and easy
to get over it quickly or why they have depression in the first place.
I found a
quote that really explain how I feel about people when I am in a dark hole-
“Some
friends don't understand this. They don't understand how desperate I am to have
someone say, I love you and I support you just the way you are because you're
wonderful just the way you are. They don't understand that I can't remember
anyone ever saying that to me. I am so demanding and difficult for my friends
because I want to crumble and fall apart before them so that they will love me
even though I am no fun, lying in bed, crying all the time, not moving.
Depression is all about if you loved me you would.”
―
Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation
Maybe
this will help people to have a insight of how a depressed person thinks as
well maybe try to understand, it may not make sense but I can assure you that
many depressed people do think that way and it does make sense to them.
It is like being a hearing person
trying to understand Deaf culture but they can never fully understand til they
are deaf themselves- this is similar to a person who does not have depression
trying to understand how a depressed person feel.
Ach one day! :D
I was filmed by See Hear on the topic of depression. it was ironic for me as i was officially diagnosed on 19th March 2011, revealed to people that i had depression on 19th march 2012 and was filmed on 19th march 2013! Spooky!
When this will be showed- i don't know when but hopefully one day as it was really hard for me to do it and i would love people to see me and maybe understand.
I am off
to visit my parents (and brothers) for Easter, and to get some chocolate eggs!
Fact: Cadbury
chocolate is the best! Other chocolate brands are crap
