Alison Stephenson, treasurer for Darlington NCT branch, talks about life as a deaf parent and how her branch helped her overcome postnatal depression and breastfeeding difficulties.
My name’s Alison and I’m married with two wonderful boys who are two and four years old. I am a director in five different companies but my pride and joy is my company, which delivers training to businesses in deaf awareness and British Sign Language (BSL).
I am deaf myself and a BSL user but I also rely heavily on lip-reading in my day-to-day life.
My husband and both my children are hearing but use BSL so day-to-day communication is easy at home. I did struggle in the early days with knowing when my boys were crying but I have a hearing dog for deaf people who is trained to alert me to sounds. I also had a vibrating baby monitor.
A lot of parents rely on the ‘type’ of cry to understand what their children want but I relied on facial expressions.
It’s been a positive experience because my children have communicated with me from an early age through sign language so I’ve never had to guess what they were trying to say.
When I lived in Birmingham I benefited from the local NCT breastfeeding group and I wanted to give something back. When I moved to Darlington, the local branch put out a Facebook appeal for volunteers and from that I became the branch treasurer and I now volunteer in a number of areas.
I have developed different ways to communicate with other branch members at meetings, such as someone typing the minutes of the meeting as it happens so I can read them and follow what’s being discussed.
I also make sure I can see the person talking where possible, plus minutes are sent immediately and we have a lot of discussions via email, which makes life much easier.
I’ve made amazing new friends who have been a remarkable source of support. I’ve gained knowledge, experience and a sense of accomplishment through my work in all areas of the branch.
Both of my boys have allergies and there have been a few children at our branch playgroup that also have allergies so, given my knowledge, I took on the role of sorting out snacks each week.
I have loved giving tips to parents and seeing their joy – and their children’s – at the playgroup when they experience another food that they didn’t realise was ‘safe’ for them.
I experienced severe PND and struggled with breastfeeding. It was all thanks to my local branch that I managed to get through it all.
The work of local NCT branches cannot be underestimated. I experienced severe postnatal depression (PND) and struggled with breastfeeding. It was all thanks to my local branch at the time that I managed to get through it all.
I was alone and isolated in a town where I didn’t know anyone and had no support network. I turned up at the local breastfeeding support group ready to leave my baby and give up feeding. They instantly identified the issue, gave me support and advice and helped me breastfeed my son again.
I was able to breastfeed for nine months thanks to the group, but then stopped for medical reasons. It was the one place I could cry without embarrassment. I was referred onto someone to help with my PND, I made a very good friend and the group became my lifeline each week.
If you want to give something back that fits around your children and gain new friends along the way then I definitely recommend volunteering.
Volunteering with NCT will give you an opportunity to learn new skills and rediscover old ones.
And, you can enjoy getting to know other parents in your area and gain a real sense of achievement from knowing you’re helping others.
