Sara and Asher wouldn’t choose to hear even if they had that option, they are fully deaf and proud of their Deaf culture. Not only do they not hear, but they also don’t speak. This makes Sara’s first days at university a real challenge, as she feels isolated and worries that her two support workers make her look like she has ‘special needs’.
Meanwhile, nineteen-year-old Meghan feels she has hit a brick wall in terms of her deafness and desperately wants to hear more. We are there as she undergoes a life-changing operation to have a cochlear implant fitted which should radically improve her hearing. But the operation doesn’t come without its risks and falls the week before she starts at university – a fully hearing environment.
The film follows some extraordinary young people who have some extreme and surprising attitudes towards their deafness. It highlights how not all deaf teens want to be able to hear and are often defiant against being part of the hearing world, but also the lengths some deaf teenagers will go to to improve their hearing.
A Century Films production for BBC Three
1 x 60 minutes
Assistant ProducerJess FransesExecutive Producer for the BBCSam AnstissExecutive ProducerLiesel EvansFilm EditorJames GoldDirected, Produced and Filmed byClaire Braden