As some of you may know I work not only as columnist, but also as a disability advocate and accessibility adviser for the University of Oxford.

One of the great things about my job(s) is the variety of people I get to meet.

Recently I have had some really fascinating exposure to the deaf community.

I am a big fan of the surrogate experience – basically sticking people in my wheelchair. It may not be a totally immersive experience but even 10 minutes gives someone a tiny peek into what my life is like; my perspective on the world, the strength and balance required to manipulate a chair, etc.

If you are visually impaired there is surrogate eye wear that can simulate different visual impairments, again not ideal but a useful tool. I’m sure you have all closed your eyes in an attempt to be ‘blind’. You can’t close your ears quite so easily…What about the hearing impaired?

I urge you all to watch a YouTube video made by a student at Oxford, just Google: Hearing but not as you know it.

I won’t ruin the story she tells, but the amazing part of the video is somehow she has managed to recreate what she hears.

I found it really moving and a fast education in just how ignorant I was of living with the hearing impaired and what each day is like.

In another event I attended, I learned the basics of sign language – I cannot recommend this enough.

It’s fascinating, useful and strangely charming.

The lady who taught the course started with a shocking statistic that has haunted me ever since.

In the top 10 lists of suicide reasons; deafness is the only disability to feature.

She told stories of the trials of raising children without being able to hear them in the night (as her husband is profoundly deaf too) and life before email and text messages.

It’s very easy to have a visual disability (or observe one for that matter) and feel hard done by, but people help me, or offer to all the time.

I really don’t feel that compromised – other than when I see a flight of stairs. But by meeting people with hearing impairments and understanding how they compensate and communicate, I have learnt just how lucky I am, and just what I (and we) take for granted.

Imagine having your ability to communicate taken away, or damaged in some way.

It’s no wonder that deafness and suicide rates have a correlation. Anyone who has met me would know that without communication as I know it, I would be truly ‘crippled’.

So please watch the video and think about how can you help engage with the Deaf community and raise awareness.