I've kept a diary since I was 11.

Society cannot continue to disable themselves through their need to categorize people or make assumptions as to another individual's abilities.

If we see someone in a wheelchair, we assume they cannot walk. It may be that they can walk three, four, five steps. That, to them, means they can walk.

I walk into a kids' store, and it's amazing, the types of instruments - little squeaky things, rattling things, spinning tops.

Once you're in a particular country, and you're surrounded by musicians who are so adept at traditional music, you suddenly realize how much there is to explore and digest and learn and experience.

Hearing is a form of touch. You feel it through your body, and sometimes it almost hits your face.

And as I grew older, I then auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in London, and they said, well, no, we won't accept you, because we haven't a clue - you know - of the future of a so-called 'deaf' musician. And I just couldn't quite accept that.