GAEL HANNAN Gael Hannan grew up with a progressive hearing loss that is now severe-to-profound. She is a writer and performer whose hearing loss advocacy includes awareness presentations to all ages, work on various access committees and teaching speechreading. She is the past president of the Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association (CHHA) and a board member of the Canadian Hearing Society (CHS). Gael developed a 2002 national awareness campaign on infant hearing screening for The Hearing Foundation of Canada and has written manuals on hearing loss in the workplace for both CHHA and CHS. Her articles and poetry on hearing loss appear regularly in magazines such as Hearing Health, Abilities and Vibes. A long-time actor in community theatre, Gael knew that humour and drama would offer powerful insight into hearing loss, a condition that is often difficult to describe. She and her writing partner Dalene Uveges developed UNHEARD VOICES, a one-woman play that illuminates how hearing loss impacts on a person’s life and relationships. Since its debut in 1999, Unheard Voices has been performed to wide acclaim across Canada and in the United States. Gael is 48 and lives with her husband and 7 year-old son in Toronto.