Lipspeakers have helped him in his quest to promote access to the arts for all, especially deaf children. Lipspeaking may be thankless, he says, but when a lipspeaker hands out crayons and paper, they deserve thanking.

I was born a hearing person but lost my hearing at the age of four which put an end to days of listening to Abba. Really stuck in my craw, that did. I wear one hearing aid (no intentions for a cochlear) which is a great help and I save money on batteries. I taught myself to lipread from childhood using my mother’s wardrobe mirror. I find that the presence of an elite lipspeaker from the ALS gives me a sense of security and an equal grounding with my hearing peers when it comes to seminars or public speaking. I have degrees in Art History; I like to read, cook, love cats, art and illustration.

As a Children’s Illustration Tutor, I believe in access to the arts for everyone. I have hosted many workshops to hearing children; it is nice to see deaf children starting to participate. My debut workshop took place in a ninety-degree heat in a marquee/tent at a summer garden party with many other workshops in tents. I had lipspeaker support, and as I also had volunteers, we had water and sun cream to deal with sunstroke or sunburn. I asked them behind the scenes to look after the lipspeaker. You must, mustn’t you? Lipspeakers are more important than you think.