Five questions with ... Orange's Nikita Campbell on Australian Deaf Rugby trials and hearing loss

With a mum who "fought" for her, Miss Campbell was formally diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of two-and-a-half, and has been wearing bilateral hearing aids ever since.

While the beginning of her journey included "intellectually slow" opinions, rather than the correct deaf diagnosis at the time, the now-25-year-old rugby union and league front rower, says her hearing loss is "only one part of her."

In our next 'five questions with...' feature piece with the Central Western Daily, Campbell busts myths on those living with hearing loss; advocates for more deaf-centric sports; and opens up on how her immediate family has championed her, the whole way.

Unfortunately, not all disabilities can be seen or are not always visible, and some people can forget that there's an actual human behind that disability.

The old "deaf and dumb" term, that's a huge myth that I just wish would go away altogether, because it's not factual at all, and it's completely incorrect.

There are some of the smartest and most talented people in the world who are deaf, and as individuals, we've had to fight so hard for a lot of things.

For parents, please don't be afraid if your child has this disability, because it doesn't limit them; it can actually give them even more opportunities to be able to grow and advocate for themselves, or even have the chance to represent their country one day.

For me, I work in aged care as an enrolled nurse, and I'm now in the final semester of my Bachelor of Nursing degree.

So, being deaf is a part of me; but it's not all that I am.

Growing up, I was very afraid of doing group-related things.

I was a shy kid who relied a lot on friends to help me, and my siblings to defend me; my brother and sister mean everything to me.

I went through strenuous speech therapy with amazing aid support throughout my schooling, which formed multiple support systems around me, and I also attended deaf camps; where I learned a lot about myself and other people in my situation.

Going through life, I think sometimes you can fall into the habit of thinking that no one "gets" what you're going through.

But, what I learned is that I wasn't alone; and that made me feel stronger, too.

My family has always been very much about me being able to do anything I want to do, as long as I work hard and put my mind to it, just like anyone else.

Over the years, I also realised that I needed to not be so afraid of the world, even if it is scary at times, and to put myself out there.

I absolutely love sports for this reason, especially contact sports, because those spaces are where I learned to stand up for myself.

I started in martial arts from a very young age until I was about 12 or 13-years-old, and my confidence absolutely built, and built, and built from there.

As for getting into football, that's always been a major part of my family. My dad has been coaching for 31-years, and my mum has managed footy teams for about the same time, too.

So, I felt really happy to explore footballing further, because it meant I'd be more involved in something that we all love as a family.

It was an amazing opportunity and I'm so glad I did it; a great environment with awesome people, and I had an absolute ball.

At first I was a bit hesitant, because I was afraid that I wasn't good enough, or that I wouldn't be able to do it; but I had to push past that thinking and remember to keep learning new things about myself.

When you're trialing to do something special, naturally, you don't want to fail.

But, I've really learned that failure isn't the worst thing in the world, and you won't know what you're capable of unless you give it your best shot.

I usually wear headgear over my hearing aids while I play league or union, but in deaf rugby, you're not allowed to wear hearing aids at all; and I'm so used to playing in a hearing team.

When I played on the weekend, it was very different for me as an individual, but it was also amazing to play that way, because I wasn't by myself.

We very much relied on things like hand signals, visual cues, communication prior to games, and quickly learning players' muscle movements for the lifts during our line-outs.

There was so much talent there, and I wish deaf sports was more well-known. If you make the squad, you'll travel to Argentina in March next year, with around 14 different countries [of deaf rugby teams] competing.

I've also made some incredible new friends, so regardless of whether I make it through or not, the experience was everything; so, I still feel like I've won.

People in sporting communities have given me the confidence to grow, to form friendships, and to be in social situations - especially with people who are open-minded, and just want to get to know me for me.

I learned that people asking me questions is not a terrible thing at all, and sometimes I might miss the joke in group situations, or be unsure about something on the field.

I choose to wear my hearing aids underneath my headgear, so sometimes I might stuff up a play because I didn't hear it right.

On the field, it's helpful if just one person talks to me at a time, and off the field, I'm usually looking for emotions, trying to interpret tone, body language and picking up on facial cues.

I have to think 'are they being sarcastic, truthful, or genuine' and so on, but I've met good and kind people over the years, who have always been happy to help me out.

I've also drawn so much strength from both sporting and my family as well, because their perspective of "it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks" has been an amazing support system for me.

Mostly, I've found that people don't focus on my hearing loss at all, because they just care about who I am.

And being deaf doesn't limit me, because I don't let it.

Deaf Sports Australia is the peak body for deaf sport across the country, which facilitates and supports those with hearing loss at all levels of sporting.

Some of these are athletics, badminton, basketball, cricket, cycling, golf, netball, swimming and volleyball, as well as in the Australian Deaf Games, the Asia Pacific Games for the Deaf and the Deaflympic Games.

For more information, head to the DSA website, or head to the Australian Deaf Rugby webpage.

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