Emma McAuley is the first person in the Republic to benefit from the Hearing Dogs for Deaf People scheme
DUBLINER EMMA McAuley became the first person in the Republic to use a specially trained hearing dog to act as her ears when Chester came into her life last year.
Chester is a two-year-old “cockerpoo”, a cross between a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle, who was bred by the UK-based Hearing Dogs for Deaf People organisation and underwent extensive training to prepare him for his life as a working dog.
McAuley explains that Chester was placed with a “socialiser” at the age of two months where he was trained in basic commands and being walked on a lead, and got used to being around people. He then passed his first assessment and proceeded to a four-month-long sound work training programme with Hearing Dogs for Deaf People.
“It was at the end of this four months that our own partnership was formed. I went over to one of their training centres in Yorkshire, the Beatrice Wright Training Centre, where I spent five days learning how to handle Chester in public and private, to give commands correctly, how to groom him and what his daily care routine consisted of. It was hard work but we bonded straight away, so this made things much easier and very enjoyable, with a lot of laughs.”
Since January 2009, Chester has been her constant companion, waking her up in the morning when the alarm clock goes off by pawing at the duvet, and he alerts her when the mobile phone, the doorbell or the cooker timer rings or when a colleague calls her in the office.
“He does this by coming and touching me with his paw and then taking me to the source of sound. He is also trained to alert me to the smoke/fire alarm and burglar alarm, both at home, in work and in public places. With these sounds he alerts me and then drops to the ground which tells me it is a danger sound.”
Chester does not moult, which is important for the office and clinical environment McAuley works in as an audiologist with the DeafHear organisation. “It is important that he does not have an effect on someone who might have an allergy to dogs,” she points out.
She has a severe hearing loss but gets a lot of benefit from the use of two hearing aids. “However, I find it very difficult to understand speech when I am not lip reading the person,” she says. “I enjoy my music, but probably more from the melodies and various instrumental sounds as opposed to the actual lyrics.”
Chester has accompanied her to the National Concert Hall and the cinema, to see Christy Moore in Vicar Street, to the Olympia, and all around the city, as well as on flights to England.
“He is loved by staff and clients alike. He is especially popular with children and he is a credit to his socialisers and trainers with how well he behaves.”
McAuley’s deafness developed as a child because of a hereditary condition which also affected her mother’s family.
“My father, being a doctor, was aware of the chance that I too might develop a hearing loss. Thankfully, he made sure that I had regular hearing tests and when tested as a nine year old it became apparent that I had developed a mild/moderate hearing loss in both ears. I was fitted with my first hearing aid when I started secondary school at the age of 12.”
When she moved from junior to senior school at Alexandra College, she found it difficult to cope in larger classes and dealing with a specific teacher for each subject. At the end of her second year she moved to a class of just eight at Pembroke School.
“All the teachers were made aware of my hearing loss and always made sure that I never fell behind in my school work. It was because of their good teaching skills and dedication in encouraging their students that I left in 1989 with my Leaving Certificate and went on to study and qualify as an accounting technician in Portobello Business College.”
When she finished college she attended a DeafHear course on coping strategies for hearing loss, her first experience of meeting other people with a similar condition.
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http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2010/0323/1224266869865.html
