Emily is 49 and lives in Cardiff. She began to lose her hearing in her 20s and has now lost all hearing in her left ear and has severe-to-profound hearing loss in her right ear. Here, Emily shares her story with us. Navigating public transport Using public transport is very stressful for me when travelling on unfamiliar routes or when announcements are made over tannoys that I cannot hear properly....
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Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable clinical change; Emily's account provides valuable insight into the stigma and emotional burden experienced by adults with severe-to-profound hearing loss in public settings, relevant for patient counselling.
Emily's experience illustrates that systemic inaccessibility in transport causes measurable psychological harm — including stigma and loss of confidence — to people with hearing loss, a dimension audiologists should factor into holistic patient care.
- 01Emily, 49, has severe-to-profound hearing loss and travels in Cardiff.
- 02She regularly misses audio-only announcements, leading to stress and missed connections.
- 03She reports feeling socially stigmatised and personally blamed for her communication difficulties.
- 04Cardiff's transport network is described as lacking adequate visual or accessible information alternatives.
- 05Her story highlights how systemic failures become internalised as personal shame for passengers with hearing loss.
Public transport in Cardiff systematically fails to provide accessible information for passengers with hearing loss.
quotepartially supportedPassengers with hearing loss experience social stigma and self-blame as a result of inaccessible transport environments.
quotepartially supported