I wear hearing aids, and have done for 10 years. I struggled with my hearing for over 15 years before that.

For a long time, I thought of deafness as something I managed rather than something I talked about. It was simply part of daily life, and something I often tried to hide. Something that affected how I communicated, how I experienced the world, and how much effort some situations required. I coped and stayed quiet, often feeling excluded from situations.

Over time, that began to change.

As I became more aware of conversations around accessibility and inclusion, I started to recognise something important: what I’d learned through my own experiences wasn’t just about deafness.

It was about assumptions.

The assumptions people make when they can’t see a barrier.

The assumptions organisations make about what they think accessibility is.

The assumptions we all make about other people’s experiences.

The more I reflected on those assumptions, the more I realised that accessibility is about far more than physical access, technology, or adjustments. It’s about whether people feel able to participate, contribute and belong.

It’s about whether we create environments where different people can thrive.

Recently, I’ve found myself reading more, learning more, and having more conversations about accessibility, inclusion and belonging. Along the way, a question kept returning to me:

What happens after we’ve listened?

We spend a lot of time talking about being heard.

We encourage people to share their experiences. We ask for feedback. We listen to stories. All of those things matter.

But listening is only the beginning.

Real change happens when conversations lead somewhere. When they challenge assumptions. When they influence decisions. When they encourage us to look at things differently. When they inspire action.

That’s where the idea for Beyond Hear came from.

The name has a connection to my own experience of deafness, but its meaning reaches further than that.

For me, Beyond Hear is about what happens after the conversation.

After we’ve listened. After we’ve heard a different perspective. After we’ve become aware of a challenge or barrier.

It’s about moving from awareness to understanding, and from understanding to action.

This isn’t a space where I claim to have all the answers. I’m still learning. I’m still exploring. I’m still asking questions, trying to understand different perspectives and experiences.

But I believe those questions are worth asking.

Through Beyond Hear, I want to explore accessibility, inclusion and belonging through lived experience, curiosity and conversation. Sometimes that will mean writing about deafness. Sometimes it will mean reflecting on culture, communication, assumptions or workplace inclusion. Sometimes it will simply mean sharing something that has made me think differently about inclusion more broadly.

My hope is that these conversations don’t stop at awareness. My hope is that they lead to change.

Welcome to Beyond Hear.

Let’s start the conversation, and take action.