So true deafgal001, I spent my whole life, being raised oral and mainstreamed, I was taught by society to take on the pretense of being hearing. It was only last year that I finally got the wake-up call that no matter how much an expert I became at fooling people I could hear, there would always be a reminder that I was severely-deaf (it usually was in the form of ridicule, humiliation, embarrassment or frustration in communication). That's what brought me to AllDeaf. Now I am not ashamed of being deaf, it defines who I am. Thanks AllDeaf for 'being there' for me. 
