We know that there are even fewer Deaf lawyers undertaking advocacy in tribunals and court.

I’m one of them. As an employment solicitor, I undertake advocacy in the Employment Tribunal on a regular basis.

Now, bear in mind that I’m profoundly Deaf and my first language is English as opposed to say BSL. I am a fluent BSL user, equally comfortable with spoken English. However, I’d be the first to admit that I do not have perfect speech; I’ve never actually *heard* a word so go figure. My voice is rather high pitched, and I tend to trip over my words from time to time or mulch all the words into one big mush as I don’t allow time to elocute-each-word-fully.

A weird byproduct of my “imperfect” speech is that some people understand me, and some don’t. I find I’m sometimes able to identify who falls into these categories: females in the former, and males in the latter; individuals who know how to LISTEN and those who don’t.

So, I undertake tribunal advocacy with imperfect speech. I hear you say: “that’s easy! Just use BSL!”. Well, yes, I could, but that would mean translating complex legal principles etc. into BSL and then hoping, just hoping, that the interpreter will be able to grasp the legal principle as well as the point I’m making, and voice over that in a way that is appropriate for such a situation i.e. formal language with legalese thrown in.

Are there actually any interpreters out there able to do this for me? And can they go to each tribunal regardless of location within England and Wales to do exactly that? I doubt it.

So, therein lies the problem. How does one solve it? Answers on a postcard please.

Apparently, where I’ve been going wrong is to discuss both supervision AND management issues in a supervision session. This begs the question: “what’s the difference between the two?!”.

Management issues are the usual run of the mill, day to day things like annual leave, toil, outreach, general admin etc., whereas supervision should be focusing on the individual supervisee; their wellbeing, personal development and training, feedback from clients – both positive and negative – and have to be linked to the organisation’s overall strategic objectives. Phew!

I’m on another course today, “Non-employment discrimination”, so a return to more “legal” matters!

First of all, how does one define “perfect”? Does it mean perfect as in “I’ve got everything I’ve ever wanted” or does it mean “I have everything ‘normal’ people should have”?

My life is perfect in the sense that I have a gorgeous wife, a smashing little boy, a job that I love (sometimes!) with a bunch of people I’m close to, a nice roof over my head, a fairly new car, and I get pretty much anything I want, when I want it, as I have the financially stability to do so.

However, I still want more (don’t we all?!). I’d love to get a job closer to home to reduce the amount of travelling I do (hey, I’m not getting any younger!), which would give me the added bonus of seeing my little family every single day. I want an Audi TT (preferably brand new!) and a mansion with an indoor swimming pool! At particularly stressful times at work, I want peace and quiet. I want, I want, I want … !

Does the fact that I want more than I already have mean that my life is not perfect after all? Or am I just being greedy?

I’ve been catching up on some blogs and there are some pretty good ones out there. If you have any suggestions as to what I should be checking out, let me know.

After entering his way into my life on 19 November 2009 via caesarean section, Corey has been a source of absolute joy and pleasure for both Rachel and I. Believe me, nothing ever prepares you for this outpouring of love that you feel for a little child, especially your own flesh and blood.

As well as this inbuilt instinct to nurture and to protect, when your child starts to respond to you, it is a great feeling knowing that a little ‘un knows who you are and recognises you. For example, I pretend that Corey is kicking me in the face (playfully of course!) by directing his feet to my chin as he sits on my lap facing towards me, and Corey is smiling from ear to ear. It’s got to the point now where he has slowly started to nudge my chin with his left foot when he wants to play this game. An absolute thrill, I tell you.

Fatherhood is everything I expected it to be, and more. It saddens me when I hear of fathers who don’t really take an interest in their kids; they really don’t know what they’re missing out on to be able to do that.

Will stop gushing now

You will have undoubtedly noticed that I am actually blogging! Cripes!

The simple reason for this revelation is the iPhone. I was particularly delighted to see that Wordpress had developed an app, and that the app allowed access and postings to a multitude of blogs.

That means moblogging has taken on a whole new meaning, and as I’m more likely to post while commuting or bored, it has become so easy to do.

So here I am. Let’s see if I can keep this up …

Some of you will be aware that I have deliberated long and hard over the last month or so as to whether I should get a Blackberry or iPhone.

What finally “clinched the deal” as they say, was the following three facts:

- I already have a Blackberry at work;
- the majority were urging me to get the iPhone So there was considerable peer pressure *cough*; and
- why not?! I have always made decisions about new mobile phones based on the £, so this time, I decided to push the boat out, yay me!

So there you have it, a proud new owner of the Apple iPhone. Three cheers: hip hip … oh alright then, it really isn’t that much of a big deal!

Corey was born via cesarean section on 19 November 2009 at 1.11am in Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, weighing 8lbs 5oz.

Rachel and I are over the moon to have such a gorgeous little boy!

Corey is such a clever little fella: he’s actually set up his own website here!