Living Between Hearing and Deaf Worlds?

Yea it's hard. My mother never learned ASL, I did all the way
through school. I taught both my girls from birth on. Later finding out
that they were indeed both HofH. I am very fluent in ASL, I love my culture and I am proud of who I am. I have a hard time when hearing people push the girls to talk, and steer them away from ASL. Just recently a family member held my lil one down telling her to "USE YOUR WORDS." I wish I could hold her down and say "USE YOUR SIGNS" ..nothing frustrates me MORE and makes me ANGRY than that. Then it went on as Oh she "CAN HEAR ME" she is just being ignorant and rude. This day that this was said she had no aids on because they are both in for repair. We live by the 3 feet rule. Adults have an additional 2 feet on them because of the height. We come down on their level anything higher than 3 feet (drowns out). I have fought with so many hearing people trying to educate them that EVENTHOUGH we hear VOLUME doesnt mean we understand what is being said. Hearing aids don't solve the solution they just add more volume to what we already can't hear.

There are days, that I just tell my hub that I just want to "soley go ASL"
no hearing aids, no talking, no nothing. He gets upset, he is hearing. He asked then how would I even talk to you? LEARN ASL! I had to learn to talk to you (being scarastic) but in all reality we did have to learn to talk inorder to communicate with society. Sometimes just using ASL is easier than facing the hearing world -atleast I don't have to "hear" the "negativity."

Frustrated Mom
Heart2Sign
 
Well my great-grandmother and I are the only hoh in the family, and I never meet her. My mother told me that she knew something was wrong with my hearing due to the fact that I wouldn't respond to her or when I would say certain words I couldn't pronounce it the way it should be. Especially words with "ch" or "sh", even to this day I have a hard time. :shrug:

So when I got tested when I was 6 years old, my mother was right. I had a hearing problem, turns out I had both main nerves in my ears dead. Plus I was speech impaired as well. Needless to say, the doctor wanted to send me to a deaf school so I could be around kids like myself, but since, at that time I was living in TN the west side of it, the deaf school was on the East side of TN. My mother fought that one and said, "No, she's no different from other kids and she will be treated the same." Then the doctors wanted me to learn how to read lips, but once they've tested me, they returned to my mother stating I already knew how to do this. I was 6 years old! wow.

The point of this is, yes I am in the hearing world and sometimes it sucks because I'd rather just sign and not hear anything. I've always got discouragement from hearing world saying I can't do some things. I am stuck in middle of both world, Hearing World because I can't talk well enough, Deaf World because I can talk and don't sign as good. WTF!

I don't like being the middle of the world, but I've proven to myself as well as to some teachers, guidance counselors, friends (hearing or deaf), that I can do just as well as everyone else. I was told that I would never graduate High School, that I would drop out, umm check I've graduated High School and graduated College. Plus that I was stupid and wouldn't amount to anything.

However, I am still slowly learning sign language myself, I've meet some great friends in college who are deaf themselves and are amazed that I am teaching myself. Each time I see them, I sign and they are surprised that I still sign and remember them. Its part of me what can I say, I love doing it.

I have a co-worker at work that is wanting to learn and he's doing the basic fingerspelling. Which to me tickles me pink, because when we really want to talk we sign and other people are wondering what we are saying, I tell them to learn sign language. ;) Of course when I get the days I don't want to talk, I just sign to my friend and he knows my mood for the day is quiet and no listening. :)
 
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