Ms Carol Brill:

I am involved with a network of people who are suffering dual sensory loss, mainly due to Usher's syndrome. The most common complaint pertains to the quality of hearing aids available through the medical card scheme. It is not simply a matter of being unable to hear properly but also the impact on families. It can cause friction between family members when they are asked to turn around to facilitate lip reading. If the hearing aids were better quality, that friction would not arise. Poor quality hearing aids impact on every aspect of family life. We want to live in harmony. I have tried various hearing aids throughout my life. In my first 40 years of life, I never had an audiologist explain to me what my hearing loss entailed and why I needed to wear a hearing aid. I never understood the extent of my hearing loss until I attended a commercial audiologist who was kind and patient in explaining every aspect of my hearing loss. That should have happened before I reached the age of 40, which was five years ago. I should not have gone through life with that experience.

Social infrastructure, such as the Luas, can be detrimental. There is no care or thought for people with deaf-blindness. For some reason, Dundrum Town Centre, which is my local shopping centre, has erected silver and grey posts on grey concrete. The streets are covered with grey concrete and silver street poles. The Luas is supposed to reflect the colour of our grey sky. This is why I feel I am becoming invisible. If deaf-blindness was recognised, it would have an enormous impact on architects and other professionals in terms of improving the quality of life for people with dual sensory loss.