This year’s theme is “Beyond Silence.”

This theme allows us to think about the importance of looking beyond the common misconceptions about deafness. It encourages greater understanding of the diverse ways in which Deaf and hard-of-hearing people communicate.

Circus Starr are proud to help raise awareness of deafness, not only this week, but also throughout the year. We became the first circus to feature a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter at our events, and we are the only circus to have this as a standard feature at every single one of our performances.

And not only that, our troupe also teach our audience members to sign to the chorus of our finale song. These extras are simple ways of making our show more accessible to those who are deaf and help to raise awareness.

But we don’t only support deaf people at our shows. At Circus Starr HQ we also work with the lovely Kirsty, who is hard-of-hearing.

Kirsty, who is one of our telephone fundraisers, told us why she enjoys working at Circus Starr with her disability.

“I love the fact that my job is listening and speaking to people, something so simple but something that is often a challenge for those who are hard-of-hearing. The fact that I wasn’t told I can’t do the job because of my disability is amazing.  I have an adapted headset here in the office which dims surrounding noise coming from the office and amplifies the sound coming from my phone.  It works with my hearing aid and makes it possible for me to hear people when I call to see if they would like to donate to Circus Starr.”

After having tests done at school, Kirsty discovered something wasn’t right with her hearing at a young age. She explained how this had an impact on her when she was younger.

“I remember growing up and hearing was a struggle. At first, I wasn’t at the level where a hearing aid was needed and there was a lack of awareness at the time. The general attitude was to just get on with it. Now I have hearing aids in both of my ears. The condition that I have means that my hearing is only going to deteriorate, so I will have check-ups regularly to try and stay on top of it.”

Living with the disability poses a number of challenges for Kirsty in her day-to-day life.

“I get very frustrated not been able to hear things and the impact it has on me every day. I now have to have subtitles on the TV if I am watching anything as I can’t fully hear the words if I just turn the volume up, sometimes I want to just watch something without having to read as well. I often feel embarrassed when I am speaking to people who don’t know I am hearing impaired as I have to say ‘pardon’ or ask them to repeat themselves over and over again and I feel like I am annoying that person, it isn’t nice.”

Kirsty knows just how important feeling accepted with a disability is, which is why she is proud to work for Circus Starr.

“I think the fact that we have the BSL (British Sign Language) at our shows is massive. When I was younger, although I wasn’t fully deaf, having interpreters present was not something that regularly happened, and I know it will make a difference to those who are deaf and use BSL as a form of communication.”

For many people like Kirsty, this week is a great way to talk about their experiences and help improve other people’s hearing journey.

“I believe that deaf awareness week is really important, and because people are becoming more aware it can make things easier for everyone involved. If I say to someone, “I’m sorry I can’t hear you, I’m hearing impaired” they understand that I need them to speak up or look at me and speak clearly so that I can tell what they are saying. I think the impact of raising awareness can be huge for people of all levels of hearing and I hope it continues in the future.”

If you are deat and would like to attend one of our signed shows, you can apply for tickets here.