yes, sadly the worst offender of audism is usually from our very own family
My hearing neice kept saying I act just like my sister (Her mother who is deaf).... so I kept decided to keep saying to her, You look just like your mother. Or your mother did those things too. After that, I don't think she brought it up anymore. (like racism, who think certain race of people all look and act alike, audism also think we all look and act alike too. They just have a very hard time seeing our very own individual personality)
Anyway, about the paranoid part, that's why ASL is a good idea. Then we wouldn't seem so "paranoid" because we misheard. I've done it several times. if a person really said it, then you wouldn't seem paranoid about it.
