| 1 | 1 | | In Great Britain, one person in five has a significant hearing loss. Sadly, surviving |
| 2 | | in a hearing world can sometimes be a very difficult experience. 'Sitting on the stairs with |
| 3 | | the front door open isn't the usual way to await visitors,' says 28-year-old Kerena |
| 4 | | Marchant, who has been deaf since childhood. 'But when you can't hear the doorbell, |
| 5 | | there isn't much choice.' |
| 2 | 6 | | But now Kerena enjoys hard-won independence and a more exciting job with |
| 7 | | BBC TV in London. How is this possible? |
| 3 | 8 | | Kerena's freedom came with a small, alert, shaggy-haired dog called Skipper who |
| 9 | | wakes her when the alarm clock rings, draws her attention to the doorbell and telephone, |
| 10 | | and warns her of unexpected dangers like burglars or fire alarms. |
| 4 | 11 | | When Kerena first mentioned the idea of having a hearing dog to her colleagues, |
| 12 | | they thought she was joking. However, once she had the support of the BBC doctor, the |
| 13 | | personnel officer and the department manager, everyone was very supportive. Now, four |
| 14 | | years later, Skipper has his own staff pass and travels round the country with Kerena. |
| 5 | 15 | | Unfortunately, Kerena finds that many people, particularly taxi drivers and security |
| 16 | | guards, do not always recognise the orange collar used for hearing dogs. Even if there are |
| 17 | | notices saying 'Guide Dogs Accepted', Kerena generally has to wave her identification |
| 18 | | papers in front of them before they will allow her in. |
| 6 | 19 | | Kerena's deafness wasn't discovered until she went to primary school. The teacher |
| 20 | | contacted her mother after the first week to complain that Kerena behaved badly because |
| 21 | | she would not join in during the 'free expression' class. It was then that the doctor |
| 22 | | discovered her handicap. |
| 7 | 23 | | Learning to deal with it and to speak clearly was hard work for Kerena. 'Although |
| 24 | | life was no bed of roses in a normal school, it did mean I was surrounded by hearing |
| 25 | | people who constantly corrected my speech and commented on my voice,' explains |
| 26 | | Kerena, who is always grateful when her colleagues occasionally correct her |
| 27 | | pronunciation. |
| 8 | 28 | | Kerena has no difficulty whatsoever understanding Skipper's messages. 'If it's the |
| 29 | | doorbell, he rushes to the door. When the kettle in the kitchen boils, his signal is one paw |
| 30 | | on my knee followed by a sprint into the kitchen.' |
| 9 | 31 | | When they are entirely alone, Skipper often acts on his own initiative, such as the |
| 32 | | time a car alarm went off in the street and Skipper kept leading Kerena to the door and |
| 33 | | going out into the road. But Skipper's most surprising initiative was introducing Kerena |
| 34 | | to her boyfriend, Tony. 'I was at a large meeting in London when suddenly Skipper went |
| 35 | | over to shake paws with a stranger, then came back and led me to Tony. Obviously he |
| 36 | | thinks there 's somebody worth meeting, I thought!' |
| 10 | 37 | | 'Skipper is certainly a dog with a mind of his own,' says Kerena, laughing. 'The |
| 38 | | first time I went away on holiday without him he stayed with my parents. They got really |
| 39 | | worried when he ignored the telephone and doorbell and were concerned that he might |
| 40 | | forget all his training. But I guess he simply decided to take a holiday, too, because he |
| 41 | | was his usual helpful self the moment I got back.' |
| | | |
| | | from 'Woman's Own', May 14, 1990 |
