I am very hard of hearing on my right side and use a hearing aid. My hearing in my left ear is much better than in my right, but it is increasingly sub-normal. The hearing aid works well but not perfectly. Without it I find sound very confusing; I don't know where anything is actually happening because it all seems to be happening on my left. I can't follow conversations. Even with my hearing aid I find busy places difficult and multiple voices very hard to follow. My hearing is deteriorating on both sides, but especially on my right. There is no clear reason for my conductive hearing loss. I fell from a horse about ten years ago and was badly concussed - my ENT doctor first suggested that this was probably when the deterioration began, but since my hearing has begun to suffer in my left ear too it seems this was not an accurate hypothesis. I studied ASL many years ago just because I was interested, but I am beginning a course again this spring because I don't know where my hearing loss will eventually take me. ASL is a beautiful language and it will be a privilege to study it, whether or not I ever require it to communicate. Thank-you for having me here even though I am not deaf.