Hear Me™ D/deaf Identity, Bias & Belonging at Work
Hear Me™
D/deaf Identity, Bias & Belonging at Work
Every D/deaf person has a story.
Some are filled with belonging. Many are filled with barriers, bias, and being left out of the loop.
Hear Me™ is a lived-experience training that opens eyes, shifts culture, and gives your team the tools to create real psychological safety – so everyone feels heard..
Our Current Focus
The Belonging Dojo CIC is our registered sister Community Interest Company
to The Holistic Dojo. Right now our focus is Hear Me™. A lived experience session for teams who want to improve inclusion and belonging for D/deaf staff and service users.
Company number: 165313089
A programme from The Belonging Dojo CIC
Why Hear Me™ exists
I’m Deaf, living in between the Deaf and hearing worlds — one foot in, one foot out, never fully belonging.
I’ve experienced bias, discrimination, and microaggressions in the workplace, leading me to walk away from careers I loved. The impact on my mental health, confidence, and identity was profound.
Hear Me™ was created to change this — to help workplaces understand, include, and truly value D/deaf people.
Belonging starts with being heard.
About Hear Me™ Training
What This Training Covers
About Your Trainer Kerry Tidman
What This Training Covers
This powerful, 1-hour virtual session blends lived experience with practical insight to help staff better understand D/deaf identity, unconscious bias, and inclusive practice in the workplace.
Through honest storytelling, including reflections from my TEDx talk and cochlear implant journey, I will explore:
- The difference between Big D and
This powerful, 1-hour virtual session blends lived experience with practical insight to help staff better understand D/deaf identity, unconscious bias, and inclusive practice in the workplace.
Through honest storytelling, including reflections from my TEDx talk and cochlear implant journey, I will explore:
- The difference between Big D and little d Deaf identity
- Why terms like hearing impaired are outdated and harmful
- How bias and microaggressions show up — even with good intentions
- The impact of internalised values on workplace culture
- What reasonable adjustments and real psychological safety look like
Who's This Training For
About Your Trainer Kerry Tidman
What This Training Covers
Ideal for HR teams, managers, and staff in:
- Education
- Healthcare / NHS
- Charities & non-profits
- …or any organisation committed to true inclusion.
Expect a warm, engaging, and thought-provoking session that leaves you more confident, more aware, and more equipped to create a truly inclusive workplace — because belonging starts with being heard
Ideal for HR teams, managers, and staff in:
- Education
- Healthcare / NHS
- Charities & non-profits
- …or any organisation committed to true inclusion.
Expect a warm, engaging, and thought-provoking session that leaves you more confident, more aware, and more equipped to create a truly inclusive workplace — because belonging starts with being heard.
Hear Me™ is available online and in person training ensuring flexibility
About Your Trainer Kerry Tidman
About Your Trainer Kerry Tidman
About Your Trainer Kerry Tidman
- TEDx Speaker – How Do You Deaf?
- Author – How Do You Deaf? (Avid Language, 2025)
- Lived experience as a D/deaf, neurodivergent woman navigating the hearing and D/deaf worlds
- Over a decade’s experience across Healthcare, Education, NHS services, Care settings, and Community Organisations
- Creator of Hear Me – first delivered for the West Midlands Combined Authority
Contact Us
Want to find out more about Hear Me™ & The Belonging Dojo CIC, book a service, or have a chat
- We welcome enquiries from schools, community organisations, funders, and individuals.
- Together, let’s create spaces of belonging and empowerment.
