Imagine not hearing everything you should, now imagine being called a liar by your own Mother because she would rather believe the so called specialist who tells her I “hear perfectly fine”….now imagine Teachers and other people picking up on it but again when you suggest you get a hearing test, you get resistance and “Why bother, it’s a waste of time” from said Mother?
Finally in my 20’s I found an Audiologist who listened to ME and I got my first pair of hearing aids, Oh my gosh there were sound my brain never knew existed, car sounds were loud and I started trying to learn Sign Language….the language that should have been mine from a young age but, like many Deaf in the past, was denied me by someone in denial.
What makes me laugh about this person is, she agrees with me when I say parents forcing Cochlear implant’s on their deaf children and refusing to let them learn sign, should be letting them learn as technology maybe advanced, but it still fails….batteries go flat, children are rough and the CI can get broken, what then? Are those same parents going to keep the child home from school for weeks while the implant gets fixed?
I am loving learning my language, I am even getting my workplace involved as this week is NZSL week here in New Zealand!
Come join me in the journey, wherever you are in the world, why not embrace your country’s Sign Language, not only is it beautiful and expressive….you may be the difference between a deaf person having a good moment, or another “if only someone knew basic sign” moment. Not only that, we love people who try!
Deafblindcan 