Thirty-four-year-old Annabelle Xerri, who will become profoundly deaf sooner or later, says that she doesn’t know what it’s like to have the ability to hear, but hearing is actually something that would make her feel uncomfortable.

Xerri, who is also the president of the Deaf Association and chairperson of the Council for Maltese Sign Language, has been deaf since the age of six. Up until the age of 26, Xerri had lived her life using solely the lip-reading technique, which posed a number of difficulties in her day-to-day life.

Eight years ago, when Xerri encountered Malta’s Deaf Community, she started using sign language. This gave her the opportunity and benefit to communicate more easily and have more accessibility.

Deaf people who learn sign language are thought to gain psychological benefits, such as improved confidence and self-esteem. When people experience an inability to communicate, feelings of anger or frustration may arise, and this proved to be true with Xerri’s personal experience.

Speaking with The Malta Independent on Sunday about her deafness, Xerri said that “in a few years’ time I will no longer be able to wear hearing aids because I still wouldn’t be able to hear with them”.

Nonetheless, Xerri embraced the news saying that it’s not a problem for her to become profoundly deaf as it’s an intrinsic part of her identity.

Since Xerri has been deaf since the age of six, she has had to learn how to go about her day-to-day life at school and adapt according to the environment and circumstances around her. She recalled that although she had support from her parents and teachers, her learning experience at school was quite challenging, particularly when it came to class discussions.

“I used to stay quiet as I feared expressing misunderstandings and did not want to attract attention,” Xerri said.

She highlighted that, when she started learning sign language, she realised that she could have “done much better at school” as this gave her the opportunity to participate and be part of a discussion.

“My life with the help of sign language took a turn for the better,” Xerri said.

Despite her challenging experience at school, Xerri passed all her exams, went on to the University of Malta and acquired a degree.

“I could not always understand what was being said during lectures, however, with support from my friends, my parents as well as from the University itself, I managed some way or another,” Xerri said.

Xerri eventually also applied for a Masters in Disability Studies, where she obtained excellent grades as she had more resources at hand to support her, especially sign language and the service of sign language interpreters.

“For the first time, I enjoyed the lectures as I was participating in discussions and understood everything that was being said,” Xerri said.

Just before she had started her Masters, Xerri became pregnant. But a few months after her daughter was born, Xerri was forced to take a suspension from studies for two years as her daughter was diagnosed with a condition that led her husband and herself to drop everything and spend three months in a London hospital. Although her daughter is medically vulnerable, they have learnt how to care for her themselves.

Although Xerri did not manage to complete the Masters immediately, she still managed to finish her studies and was given plenty of career opportunities which allow her to be a role model for deaf children.

Speaking about the work she does with deaf people, Xerri explained that her role as president of the Deaf Association and her role as chairperson of the Council for Maltese Sign Language were much easier to handle before she had children. Although it can get very busy at times, Xerri has now adapted to a different lifestyle and manages nonetheless, as “the work done for the deaf community is done from the heart”.

“Currently, due to there being more awareness, many people want to learn sign language. Schools also contact us for awareness-raising or basic sign language sessions,” Xerri said.

She explained that when it comes to sign language courses, many hearing people contact the association but deaf people rarely do the same.

“This is very unfortunate because sign language can make deaf people’s lives much better than it already is, especially those whose deafness is more profound,” Xerri said.

Xerri expressed her hope in being a role model for other deaf children or parents with deaf children. She also tends to write about her experiences as a deaf person on her social media platform entitled, A Silent World.

 

*people with profound deafness refer to themselves as ‘deaf’ to indicate a cultural identity, not a disability

 

Photo: Therese Debono