Andrew Pettigrew speaks to Jennifer Murray about his hearing and sight loss and the many different things he does.
Click below to listen to Andrew's podcast, or scroll down to read the transcript.
https://audioboom.com/posts/8718918-andrew-pettigrew-sight-loss-story
Transcript:
“You're listening to an RNIB Connect Radio podcast. I'm here today with Andrew Pettigrew, who is hearing impaired and visually impaired. Hi, Andrew, thanks for coming on to RNIB Connect Radio.
How are you?
Oh, I'm great. Thank you very much for having me.
Can you tell me how your sight loss and your hearing loss affect you day to day?
I would say small things like moving around, getting to place to place, especially in terms of the hearing, talking to people and socializing, that makes it a lot more challenging. And with the sight specifically, I need to use braille technology to access things like email and internet and all that kind of thing. So in that case, that affects me a lot.
What type of support do you get?
By terms of my hearing, I have a cochlear implant. It is basically a fancy hearing aid that I had an operation for when I was 11. That has helped me a lot.
“I also use guides or interpreters who support me with communication through Deafblind Manual, which is a form of tactile fingerspelling. In terms of my sight, I use a Braille in Braille display, so that connects to my iPhone. It works with the voiceover, so that allows me to access all the different things on my iPhone, which is a godsend.
Can you tell me more about your studies and what else you do?
So I study a Masters of Creative Writing at the University of Strathclyde, which has been a lot of fun so far. I'm in my second year of study in that, and I get to do writing and poetry and different kind of projects, so a lot of fun. As well as that, in university, I'm also part of the theatre and music societies, so I get to act in the plays and gigs and have a lot of fun with that.
“And apart from that, I also do advocacy work, but I'm not too busy, so I love working with charities and trying to promote disability rights across Scotland. I'm also currently part of a steering committee for Creative Scotland, set up by them and an organization called Monier Ockmoor. And basically, the aim of that work is to better reach creatives across Scotland to come from isolated and marginalized backgrounds.
So that is some work that I'm doing at the moment, which I think could be really important in the future, hopefully. Outside of all that, I read, write, I walk my dog and meet up with my friends and basically do whatever 20-year-olds do, some involving alcohol, some not.
What would you like to do after finishing university? What are your plans?
Well, my main plan is to hopefully one day become a published writer. It's always been my dream since I was a kid, and I've never had to get sense to stop following that dream. So that's my main dream, hope to get a novel or two out and continue to be creative and that kind of thing.
“That's quite like the idea of writing freelance for websites or magazines or who basically will ever pay me to write nonsense. And that's basically my main plan for career. My other plans is to enjoy life and have a lot of good memories, good experiences with friends and so on.
What advice would you give to anyone who is going through hearing loss and or sight loss?
The advice that I would give to anyone with hearing loss or sight loss is to keep going no matter the barriers. I think we're handling a lot of rubbish cars in life, but I don't think I should hold us back. I think what I would also say is that a lot of the barriers are simply social.
They are about attitudes and however people think. And I think a lot of people are there who can support us. In short, I would say it's tough, but keep going.
And I think life can still be amazing even with these extra challenges.
That's great. Andrew, thank you for coming on to RNIB Connect Radio.
Thank you for having me. It's been great.
From RNIB Connect: Andrew Pettigrew, Sight Loss Story., 12 May 2025
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