Martine Monksfield

Martine has a long and varied lived experience of deafness. She was born with hearing, but at three years of age she was identified as deaf and began using a range of amplification technology. Martine is bilingual and bimodal in British Sign Language and spoken English, which enables her to assess how different communication systems work in a range of scenarios.

She is a very active participant in the Deaf community, so is often at the forefront when it comes to raising issues, discussing ideas and formulating solutions. As a former President of the British Association of Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People (BATOD) Martine has been able to use her knowledge, skills and experience to promote change within the Deaf community, such as around positive terminology in deafness. While working as a Qualified Teacher of Deaf Children (QDToD) for the last 15 years has meant she is always up to date with the rapid changes in audiology and amplification technology. Plus, she has also worked with children and adults that experience deafness with other conditions, such as Cerebral Palsy and Autism. This has come in very useful, as her twin daughter is deaf with additional needs.

She has worked with theatres, cinemas and festivals to resolve access issues, as well as businesses that need to think about reasonable adjustments for a wide range of deafness.