Deaf Awareness Week at Aviva - Kirsten tells us all about her incredible hearing dog

I lost my hearing almost overnight in 2016 due to Ménière's Disease while at University. I happen to be one of the very few in the world who have all three symptoms– migraines, heart problems and deafness. I went into a bit of a spiral and I couldn’t see a way out. Then Pickle came into my life in 2018.

She’s given me so much and I’ve made a whole world of new friends. Pickle is so important and helped me pick myself up after that.

At work she helps me by making me aware of sounds, whether it’s the lift or a fire alarm. And at home, she’s there to let me know about the things hearing people would take for granted – from the washing machine to the kettle, to my one-year-old daughter needing attention.

As well as Pickle, I’ve also had fantastic support from Aviva to help me do my job. Small things like not talking over each other on teams meetings makes a big difference so that I can read and understand the captions. Also having a desk that is in an area that doesn’t have too much excess noise along with good lighting that helps me lip read. These things make a big difference.

Hopefully if more employers make these kinds of changes, more people with hearing loss can be part of the UK’s workforce. At the moment, too many fantastic people with great skills are not able to achieve their working potential.”

Thanks, Kirsten for telling your inspiring story….we love Pickle!