Roland Hilton

For many deafened people it may be a more silent world but for Roland it’s been the very opposite. Nearly thirty years ago now after going to bed one night, he was awakened around three hours later by a very loud noise indeed, his own tinnitus alarm clock and no way to turn it off. In his experience up to then, he had always recovered from any setback and with that mentality he genuinely expected that everything would be OK once this infernal noise had gone away and it was many weeks before he even realised that he was deafened as well. Since then, the tinnitus has thankfully reduced a little but nothing else has changed.

The only semblance of help he received when newly deafened was a distressing encounter with the NHS. He was stunned into almost non-existence for many months, desperately waiting and hoping. Fortunately he had skills and expertise that his employer seemed to need and eventually was able to use this as the way back into his profession and to re-engage with life. Roland is a Chartered Engineer and for the last ten years has been working in an international rail technology consultancy. He lives a few miles north of Leicester and is married with four boys.

In recent years Roland has become involved in voluntary work. In addition to his trustee work for the NADP he is also a LINK Outreach Volunteer, nominally for Leicestershire but in reality at present, for much of central England. He has also recently trained as a Deaf Awareness tutor and is also trying to improve the provision for deafened people in his own local area. The feedback from these different types of involvement gives a wide appreciation of the problems and needs of deafened people. Useful though that is, Roland would be very pleased to make contact with any other individuals or organisations able to give the opportunity of wider experience or work related to achieving equality for deafened people.

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