How hiding his deafness ruined novelist's life

For ten years, the Whitbread Award-winning author, now 73, tried to hide his hearing loss. 'Unlike other disabilities, deafness can be concealed, and it's tempting to do this, especially when it's gradual,' he says. 'It's not just about vanity, but about fears of old age and mortality.' He is a full-time writer and doesn't wear his aids while writing. 'You're meant to keep them in but I find them tiresome. I don't like hearing the keyboard.

Hearing loss is so easy to hide - it's the invisible disability.