Scotland's first deaf driving instructor will use his British Sign Language skills to help other hard-of-hearing learners on the road to success. Kieran Cuthbert, who survived meningitis as a baby, has beaten the odds again after passing his approved driving instructor part three instructional ability test.
He said: “It’s been a struggle to get here at times but I’m over the moon. There’s other instructors out there who use sign language to teach learner drivers but they’re not actually deaf themselves. This is a Scottish first.”
Kieran, 26, from Kilbirnie, Ayrshire, caught meningitis at six months old and it left him profoundly deaf. He said: “Although being deaf has had its challenges with ear infections and having to have numerous operations, I’d rather have that than not be here.”
It was during the first Covid lockdown that Kieran decided to try a change in career direction. Studying computer sciences at college, he struggled with online classes.
He said: “I started working as a delivery driver but my girlfriend Erin McCluskey, who is also deaf, was finding it really difficult to get a driving instructor to teach her. Her mum Angela suggested I look into training as one. After some research, it sparked an interest.”
After training with Tricia Moir driving school in Irvine, he passed his test last week. Now working for Tricia Moir, Kieran said: “I won’t be able to teach every deaf person in Scotland because that would take about 200 years but I do want to pave the way for the deaf community to have access to driving lessons that can be conducted in BSL.
“Learning to drive is a difficult thing to deal and cope with at the best of times, but being deaf while doing it is even more challenging. I just want to give other people in the same situation as me the comfort and reassurance they deserve when learning.”
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