Kate Locke ~ Biography
Kate was 11 years old when her mild hearing loss was first discovered through a routine hearing test in primary school. Her family was told that she had probably been struggling with undiagnosed hearing loss for many years.
Doctors told her parents that her hearing would probably deteriorate as she got older, and that it was possible she could become profoundly deaf. She has two brothers and a sister, all of whom are hearing, and no family history of deafness.
At 13 years old, she was fitted with hearing aids through Australian Hearing, but - being of the age where being different can be painful - she refused to wear them, and struggled through primary school and high school without them. There was a lack of support and understanding for young people struggling with hearing loss in the 1990s, and the stigma of hearing aids and deafness made it difficult to talk about this.
By the time she was 18, Kate's hearing level had dropped from mild to severe, and she decided that as she was about to travel overseas, she would use the anonymity of being overseas to start to be more open about her hearing loss.
She wore her hearing aids, took classes in lip-reading, and started to tell people more openly that she was deaf. It was a revelation, and life slowly became easier. She realised that it was the acceptance of her hearing loss that made everything easier - and she didn't have to hide who she was.
At 28 years of age, Kate is now severe to profoundly deaf, but has embraced life completely, and feels happier than she has ever been. She works in the online industry as an Online Editor and Content Manager for Zurich Financial Services. Looking back, she wishes there had been a deaf role model for her to look up to when she was dealing with her deafness, so the mentoring program holds particular meaning for her. She is excited to be helping Olivia and David in their quest to provide hope and inspiration to young deaf people.
Her motto is to have courage when afraid, and jump right in and do it - be brave, because the more you push the boundaries, the easier everything becomes.
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