Ed,

With all the current discussions around disability, there is one form that is rarely mentioned. Deafness is the silent disability. I have been deaf in my right ear since about 4 years old. I am now 68. I have had several operations, but I have no hearing bones behind the skin-graft to replace my destroyed ear drum. Nothing can be done to restore hearing in my right ear. I have a hearing aid in my left ear.

My main concern is within a group of people when I say something in conversation, and I am either laughed at or get the comment “is there an echo in the room” when I might say something similar to what was just said but I never heard it.

It is not acceptable to laugh or deride someone with a disability.

Kevin Dixon, Grafton