DPA Executive Committee member Kathie Buffery continues our series of articles celebrating UK Disability History Month with a candid account of her lived experience as a deaf person and attitudes towards hearing loss

I think there are a few things we take for granted in life: mobility, sight and hearing. Learning to adapt without one of these can be a long process, and sometimes to understand the journey it’s imperative you speak to someone with lived experience. Often, we presume what a person with a disability or additional needs requires without asking them.

I know you haven’t asked me about my journey, but as it’s Disability History month I thought I’d give you a perspective from a person with substantial hearing loss. So here goes nothing!

Hi, I’m Kathie, I’m a committee member with the Disabled Police Association (DPA) and I am deaf. The little ‘d’ is important, and I’ll explain why. Medically Deaf (with a capital ‘D’) refers to patients who primarily use sign language, identify with Deaf culture and the Deaf community. In contrast, deaf with a small ‘d’ refers to those who primarily use the English language and may have lost their hearing later in life. This definition is important to the Deaf community.

Right, so now it’s time to bore you with my story. I wasn’t diagnosed as having a severe hearing loss until I was 23. I had just moved to Croydon for work, and I was told I needed hearing aids. After numerous therapy sessions I realised I was taking the loss on the chin – a lot of the group were really struggling with their sensory loss. This was my first step in realising the grief someone goes through when they are diagnosed. A week before I had been successful in my application on what was then the fast-track scheme for the Metropolitan Police at Hendon. Upon the diagnosis of my severe hearing loss, I knew my policing career had finished before it had even started.

For years I moved between jobs in hospitality as a manager, until I finally moved back to Manchester – where, after a brief stint in a call centre (yes I know!), I started my career in policing as a member of police staff.

My experience after being diagnosed is mine and unique to me, however from speaking to numerous people over my 20 years in policing, theirs are very similar. In short, hearing loss is not understood.

So, back to my loss. I have a bi-aural (affecting both ears) profound hearing loss as of seven years ago. This meant I had 15% hearing in one ear and 3% in the other. Life with hearing aids at this stage was pointless – when listening to anything it sounded like an alien under water. Hearing aids basically make everything louder and in my case it just made the alien louder with less clarity. So, I qualified for a cochlear implant. Having an implant fitted should fix my hearing and magically make me hear, shouldn’t it… Nope, not the case. After several tests and counselling sessions, as well as hearing tests (just to make sure my hearing hadn’t come back) I was scheduled for my implant surgery.

Surgery was completed with complexities (I can’t do anything normally) and I started the long journey to retrain my brain. Recovery from an implant is exhausting and slow: people sound like Mickey Mouse, your brain now has the capacity of a baby, you fall asleep at a whim and have ‘nana naps’ for the next few weeks. In total my recovery took nine weeks, with a nine-week reintegration to work. Every time I have my implant remapped, the process starts again for two weeks.

When living with a hearing loss, there are certain things you may not be able to hear, dependant on your range of loss. With mine even with my implant fitted, I have no sense of direction. I can’t hear traffic and I’m generally a danger to myself when crossing the street. I can’t hear on the phone normally and need to be able to stream from my phone to my implant, and even then I cannot hear properly and may not be able to decipher words. Why is this? Well, I rely on seeing someone, to be able to read lips and body language to decipher what has been said. I have a sensory processing disorder so I struggle to put words and sentences together, and in general my brain is running about five to 10 seconds behind. So, you can imagine how isolating Covid and the usage of masks was.

Having a hearing loss is exhausting, as with an implant I can’t filter out any unwanted noise that a hearing person would be able to. I basically hear everything, with increased clarity and volume, leading me to being exhausted. You will often see me with my implant on my desk having a sort of hearing break. I can still hear sound; it’s just muffled and doesn’t take my energy away.

Life as a deaf person can be scary as well. Life brings challenges: for example, to hear my baby or toddler as a single parent who is deaf, I had to rely on technology. I needed the help of Adult Social Services for a vibrating pager to know if they were awake. I needed a flashing doorbell to know someone was at the door.

The biggest struggle I have is the phone. Although there is an app called Relay UK, I find it hard to use this due to lags and the fact I have very little time to use a phone at work. The main struggle I have is communicating with the NHS. You would think they are the best due to the nature of the work, but they still have no concept that people who have additional needs may not be able to communicate on the phone. In the days of advanced technology, why do companies/organisations need to speak to people?

My work in policing has accelerated considerably from three years ago. I am working with an amazing team who understand my disability, but my work is not yet done, there is still a massive stigma in policing regarding hearing loss. The office ‘banter’ is still there which ultimately, as we have heard time and time again, it is no longer funny. Policing will change with the work I am doing with the wider team and partners; staff and officers are becoming more vulnerable to losing their hearing as our policing function changes. But this can and will be battled by finding new technology to help.

It has taken me a long time to come to terms with my hearing loss. I’m not your average deaf person and I will always educate people on what makes my life easier. Hearing loss is not seen as a disability by many who have it, this is why the culture is difficult to understand.

If you come away with one point from this blog, let it be this: if you don’t understand what or why someone needs something – ask, don’t presume. Ask your colleagues how you can help them and what is best for them. ∎

For more information on deafness, visit signhealth.org.uk

The Disabled Police Association is proud to recognise International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which this year falls on Tuesday 3^rd December.

As part of our 12 Point Action Plan, we celebrate where we have got it right by publicly championing supervisors and managers who show a real commitment to diversity and inclusion, and how this enhances job satisfaction and improves service delivery.

This extends to championing police forces, and we therefore ask colleagues across the UK and internationally to share one thing they are proud of surrounding diversity and disability.

To start the celebrations, we are sharing with you the highlights video of our recent Disability in Policing national conference in September.

We were so proud to see representation from every police force in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, in person and online. A first for the DPA!

We would like to ask you to please share this video to inspire others to champion diversity and disability. ∎

by James Bird
Deputy Secretary | Disabled Police Association

As part of UK Disability History Month, I wanted to turn the attention onto the often overlooked but profoundly impactful contributions of neurodiversity, in particular dyslexic people throughout history.

Dyslexia, often seen just as a reading difficulty, carries with it an extraordinary strength: the ability to think in three dimensions. This unique cognitive wiring has shaped our world through the revolutionary ideas and innovations of dyslexic minds.

Throughout history, individuals who ‘think differently’ have propelled innovation forward, and their stories reveal the transformative power of dyslexic thinking.

The unseen legacy of dyslexic innovators
For centuries, dyslexic people have faced immense challenges, from a lack of understanding about their differences to societal structures that cater to direct, language-based thinking.

Yet, despite these barriers, dyslexic thinkers have given the world some of the most profound breakthroughs in science, art, and technology, driven by their exceptional visual-spatial reasoning, and an ability to perceive complex relationships between ideas in ways that others cannot.

By using this visualisation to rehearse and imagine success, it gives them an enhanced focus and confidence by picturing themselves achieving these goals.

There are so many incredible, ground-breaking people I could’ve chosen from, but I had to narrow it down, so here are the ones I personally selected.

Albert Einstein: the physics revolutionary
Albert Einstein, one of the most celebrated scientific minds of the 20^th century, had a learning profile often associated with dyslexia. As a child, he struggled with traditional schooling, delayed speech, and difficulty with repetitive memorisation. But his mind was a powerhouse of imagination and three-dimensional visualisation. Einstein described his thought process as deeply intuitive, relying on images rather than words.

This ability to conceptualise abstract theories visually was crucial in developing his theory of relativity, which forever altered our understanding of time and space. Einstein’s visual thinking enabled him to perceive the universe in ways that others couldn’t fathom, proving that the very traits labelled as shortcomings in childhood became the start of a scientific revolution.

Pablo Picasso: master of artistic perception
Art history offers another vivid example of dyslexic brilliance: Pablo Picasso. The Spanish painter and sculptor, considered one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, revolutionised the art world with Cubism. This radical movement broke objects down into geometric shapes, presenting them from multiple perspectives simultaneously. Picasso’s art demonstrated an unusual grasp of three-dimensionality, as he reconstructed how people saw and experienced the world.

His dyslexic mind allowed him to think in shapes and forms rather than in linguistic terms, which directly influenced his ground-breaking artistic techniques. While others perceived reality in flat, conventional ways, Picasso’s neurodivergent brain deconstructed and reimagined it, shifting our entire understanding of visual art.

Salvador Dalí: surrealism and the dyslexic dreamscape
Another giant of artistic innovation, Salvador Dalí, exhibited the signs of dyslexia, evident in his eccentric and highly visual approach to the surreal. Dalí’s paintings, infused with dreamlike distortions and impossible landscapes, captured the fluidity of thought and imagination that dyslexic individuals often experience. He had an extraordinary ability to render vivid, multi-layered scenes that defied logic but communicated profound emotional truths.

Dalí’s dyslexia may have contributed to his surrealist vision, allowing him to connect unequal ideas in ways that others found bewildering but mesmerising. His masterpieces, from ‘The Persistence of Memory’ with its melting clocks to other iconic dreamscapes, revealed the depths of his spatial thinking and his gift for turning intangible concepts into unforgettable visual experiences.

Muhammad Ali: champion of visualisation
Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers in history, was not just a master in the ring but also a master of his own mind. Growing up with undiagnosed dyslexia, Ali struggled academically, often feeling the stigma of being labelled slow or unteachable. Yet, his neurodivergent brain gave him a unique edge: a powerful ability to visualise his success and his strategies vividly. Ali’s dyslexia likely contributed to his exceptional spatial awareness and the way he could mentally rehearse fights, seeing each movement and outcome with striking clarity.

This skill of mental visualisation became one of his most potent weapons. Ali would famously predict his victories in poetic terms, seeing himself defeating his opponents in detail, long before he stepped into the ring. His pre-fight visualisations, combined with his unconventional footwork and fight tactics, allowed him to anticipate and adapt to his opponents’ moves in real time. Ali’s story demonstrates how dyslexic strengths, like vivid imagination and spatial thinking, can fuel extraordinary accomplishments, changing struggles into sources of greatness.

The Wright Brothers: pioneers of flight
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, changed the world with the first successful airplane, and their dyslexic thinking played a pivotal role in this achievement. Struggling with traditional education, they developed exceptional visual-spatial skills, which enabled them to intuitively understand mechanics and aerodynamics. Instead of relying solely on theoretical models, they closely observed the flight patterns of birds and experimented relentlessly, visualising the complexities of flight in three dimensions.

Their breakthrough came with the invention of the three-axis control system: pitch, roll, and yaw, allowing for stable and controlled flight. This innovation laid the groundwork for all future aircraft designs. The Wright brothers’ ability to think dynamically and spatially, combined with their determination, exemplifies how neurodivergent minds can revolutionise entire fields and make the seemingly impossible a reality.

The power of thinking differently
It is not just in art, science, and sports, that dyslexic thinking has changed the world. Thomas Edison, whose dyslexic brain sparked the invention of the light bulb and phonograph, was able to see failure as a series of learning steps, applying his visual-spatial reasoning to experiment creatively. Likewise, Henry Ford revolutionised manufacturing through his assembly line – another innovation embedded in simplifying complex systems into efficient, visually intuitive processes.

In modern times, dyslexic entrepreneurs like Richard Branson and Steve Jobs continued this legacy. Jobs, known for his ability to envision ground-breaking technology, once said: “Creativity is just connecting things.” His dyslexic mind made those connections in ways that others couldn’t, giving birth to the Apple system that has reshaped our digital world.

Why celebrating dyslexic innovators matters
Disability History Month provides an opportunity to celebrate how neurodiversity fuels human progress. Dyslexic individuals are often natural-born innovators, problem-solvers, and creative visionaries. Their three-dimensional thinking drives them to break boundaries, challenge conventions, and bring fresh perspectives to the most complex challenges.

We have much to gain from recognising and nurturing neurodivergent strengths. When given the right tools and environments, dyslexic thinkers can reach their full potential and continue to make world-changing impacts.

The story of dyslexic innovation is testament to the strength of thinking differently.

From Einstein’s universe-altering theories to Picasso’s art that reshaped our visual world, dyslexic individuals continue to illuminate the power of diverse cognitive styles. ∎