At what age did you lose your hearing?

Tinnitus started on my 24th birthday and then gradual hearing loss from the higher registers. Within three years, I had become profoundly deaf in both ears.

You hold a senior post: First Secretary (Political/Military) at the British Embassy in Warsaw. What motivated you to join the diplomatic service?

A senior manager was prejudiced against my deafness in my previous job, which motivated me to find work elsewhere. I wanted to work for an organisation that was clear about its equal opportunity policies. But the main reason I applied was because I wanted to build on my previous experience of working abroad as a musician, teacher and manager in Finland and Poland.

I never expected to be able to join. Diplomacy was something ‘other’ and entirely outside my world and the competition was stiff. When I joined in 2001, I had a research job in the EU External Group that was preparing for the 2004 EU enlargement when 10 new member states joined. I was then Head of the Mediterranean team in the EU bilateral department covering Italy, Greece, Portugal and three micro-states. I took unpaid leave nine months into that job after the sudden death of my mother. I did not expect to return to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) after that – the first year or so had been very hard. My disability added to the challenge. The impact of the bereavement made me feel I would not be able to cope in such a fast-paced atmosphere. I am glad to say that I returned in 2003 on the basis that I was testing the organisation's suitability for me, and not the other way round. I think taking that approach helped a lot to be honest!

How well does the FCO treat its deaf staff? 

Over seven years I have seen the FCO increase its understanding of diversity and the needs of minority groups and redouble its efforts to achieve a more diverse organisation. These efforts have included appointing a more senior manager to lead development of diversity policy, Michael Shearer, who is a specialist recruited from the private sector. They also include much better channels for communication between ministers, senior managers and groups representing minorities. There are, for example, many more face-to-face meetings with Board members where staff can ask questions directly. So the issue has greater prominence.

But it takes time for a very large and quite traditional organisation to make changes. Deafness is complex area that is often not well understood. I recently undertook some research for the FCO into the needs of its D/deaf staff as part of an exercise designed to improve the consistency of the support they receive. This suggested challenges still remain, but the fact that the FCO is consulting staff is positive.

Do you use lipspeakers and how do you manage embassy receptions?

In Warsaw I have a security-vetted lipspeaker working with me, one of a team of four, which rotates each fortnight. Full-time support is required for the job because it is reactive to political events and because of the need to lobby and brief at short notice.  Receptions can be difficult. It can be hard for my lipspeaker to catch what is said and harder for me to pitch my voice at the right volume level. If possible, I ask the person I am speaking to if we can draw to one side where it is quieter.
In London I had lipspeaker support for half the working week because that was appropriate to my job as Head of Internal Communication[s]. I could plan my own time much more.

Access to Work withdrew its funding for government departments a couple of years ago. This means each Department is responsible for managing its own budget to support disabled staff. There have been inevitable hiccups in switching from one system to the other, some of which are still being ironed out. The current resource climate makes it hard for Departments to budget to take into account diverse needs. The potentially disproportionate impact on minority groups is something which concerns me.

How do your Polish counterparts react to you?

Polish diplomats and politicians have reacted with great warmth to me being a deaf officer who uses lipspeakers. I think it brings each meeting automatically on to a more human level as I have to explain a little, at first, who the lipspeaker is and what they do. As linguists who work with interpreters, they have no problem with this. Many say working with me has opened their eyes to the possibilities for deaf people.

Have you done any work on deaf/disability issues in Poland?

In 2006 when I arrived in Warsaw, the previous ambassador to Warsaw, Charles Crawford, suggested the embassy organise a conference on disability rights issues. He hatched the idea with a Polish professor at Oxford, Zbigniew Pelczynski, who leads innovative work with disabled people in Poland with leadership potential. The idea blossomed in to a set of three conferences with the Polish government.

We have worked closely with the government and NGOs since then on a plan to create a new, more comprehensive disability rights law and to improve disabled people's opportunities. This work has included visits by politicians and NGO leaders to Poland and the UK. A new bill is being worked on to recognise Polish sign language (a complex issue because they are two versions of sign language in Poland). The speed of progress on this work in Poland is impressive. After a visit by RADAR’s CEO, Liz Sayce, Polish disability NGOs are now setting up their own umbrella coalition to act as the voice of the disabled community negotiating with government. It is exciting work.

Are deaf people in Poland sent to separate schools?

Deaf children, particularly those born deaf, usually attend specialist schools. There are some integrated schools, but these tend to be for children with mobility impairments rather than deafness. I have got to know one excellent school for deaf young people in Warsaw. The children are taught bilingually in Polish and sign language and clearly thrive. The atmosphere in the school is very purposeful and positive. The young people I have met there are optimistic and confident, which is, I am sure, partly the result of the school's work. Opportunities for deaf children outside larger cities are narrower. The Polish government's planned new law rightly encompasses educational opportunities.

Do you use BSL or Polish sign language, or speak Polish?

To do my job you have to speak Polish to a good level of fluency (e.g. be able to hold political meetings and negotiations in Polish). I speak Polish and use a note-taker or simultaneous interpreter (Polish to English) for meetings. I have learned BSL to level 1.5 (I had to leave BSL class level 2 to take up my posting). I have one friend who is a Polish sign-language user but have not, sadly, managed to learn much.

Why are employers slow to see the benefits of employing disabled people?

Too few people with disabilities work in prominent positions. Once this becomes normal, employers will get the point. Working in a non-disabled organisation can be hard. I have moments when I contemplate moving to a more deaf-friendly area of work, but two things stop me: I enjoy what I do too much, and I want a world where disabled people hold a fair percentage of senior positions.

I understand you used to play in an orchestra…

Sadly there is no amateur music culture in Poland so I have not found an orchestra to play in for fun. I play the viola, which does not lend itself to solo music. We have bought a digital piano (which can be transported easily as it does not have sensitive strings like a conventional piano so does not go out of tune during removal). I have started playing piano a bit more. I miss the group I used to play with each week, the Harrow Symphony Orchestra, and hope they may take me back when I eventually return to the UK!