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A five-part series of essays that explores what it is like to be deaf in 21st-century Britain. Each essayist has their own personal experience and take on what being part of the deaf community means to them. Some share the little-known divisions and politics of the deaf community and others share what makes the community so special and unique to the point where some deaf people consider themselves as a linguistic minority rather than disabled.

In the first essay, proud activist Abigail Gorman, takes a personal look at what it means to be deaf when most of society would prefer you not to be. She shares what it was like growing up in a deaf family who were proud of their deaf identity but why she struggled to embrace her deafness for a long time. Abigail tells us of the arguments she had with her mum when she first decided to get a cochlear implant - her mum saw getting a cochlear implant as a rejection of the deaf community - and how she has finally come to terms with her deaf identity while learning more about a concept called audism - the belief that the ability to hear language and use speech makes one superior to those who are deaf and use sign language. Abigail ends the essay on why she is now proud to be deaf and how the deaf community is a linguistic minority. She affirms her new-found belief that deafness is not a disability but a cultural identity.

My Deaf World is produced by Camilla Arnold and Sophie Allen with Mark Rickards as Executive Producer. It is a Flashing Lights Media production for Â鶹Éç Radio 3.