Mistaken for deaf

Wish I had missed the mushy cookies post... could have gone without that one for like... eternity... Damn my curiosity... -_-
 
"they and you share 'your' head... if your family know you're many in one, so will they call 'you' by different names, right? If yes, how do they know and how to handle you and your headmates?"

Yes. Our family and friends use our individual names, as do people at work. As far as telling who is out front, many people can tell just by looking us, or by behavior. Lilly, for example, has straighter posture than the rest, and Luna is very energetic compared to everyone else.
People who can't easily tell will simply ask us who is out front. Also, if somebody wants to talk to one of us specifically, they will ask for her.

It is not uncommon for people within a system to have different ailments or physical abilities, and usually the differences can even be seen or measured by doctors. For example, our optician was stunned by how different Pastel's eyesight is from the rest of us.
You were correct - I am not able to speak when I am front, but my headmates can. I have never been able to speak.


KarissaMann05 said:
Thanks for your answer, CuriouslyMute.

Okay-- they and you share 'your' head... if your family know you're many in one, so will they call 'you' by different names, right? If yes, how do they know and how to handle you and your headmates?

Also, I'm still confused. If you can't speak but they can. Is that right, or I must have missed a few posts?
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CuriouslyMute said:
"they and you share 'your' head... if your family know you're many in one, so will they call 'you' by different names, right? If yes, how do they know and how to handle you and your headmates?"

Yes. Our family and friends use our individual names, as do people at work. As far as telling who is out front, many people can tell just by looking us, or by behavior. Lilly, for example, has straighter posture than the rest, and Luna is very energetic compared to everyone else.
People who can't easily tell will simply ask us who is out front. Also, if somebody wants to talk to one of us specifically, they will ask for her.

It is not uncommon for people within a system to have different ailments or physical abilities, and usually the differences can even be seen or measured by doctors. For example, our optician was stunned by how different Pastel's eyesight is from the rest of us.
You were correct - I am not able to speak when I am front, but my headmates can. I have never been able to speak.
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balderdash, see now you're just sounding silly. Okay, you have multiples, fine. Okay one of the multiples can't speak for whatever reason, fine. But do you realize that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Just like you guys share the same head space, you share the same rest of your body. For instance, you have a larynx, all your other headmates use it, there is nothing physically wrong with it that would stop you from speaking, you just don't. For whatever reason. You guys all share the same eyes, the same rods and cones, the same optic nerve, you all share the eyes physical ability to see. None of you have any control over what and how well you see unless you close your eyes. A person's eyesight is not dependent on personality or any other part of your brain, except to receive the input, just like hearing. It's not like one of you could be deaf or HoH either.

Yeah yeah we don't have to believe you. I know, but you keep making it harder to. You have to admit, that your story is rather fantastical. The more fantastical your story is the more skeptical people are going to be about. That's natural.....and I'm just saying. :hmm:
 
ambrosia said:
balderdash, see now you're just sounding silly. Okay, you have multiples, fine. Okay one of the multiples can't speak for whatever reason, fine. But do you realize that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Just like you guys share the same head space, you share the same rest of your body. For instance, you have a larynx, all your other headmates use it, there is nothing physically wrong with it that would stop you from speaking, you just don't. For whatever reason. You guys all share the same eyes, the same rods and cones, the same optic nerve, you all share the eyes physical ability to see. None of you have any control over what and how well you see unless you close your eyes. A person's eyesight is not dependent on personality or any other part of your brain, except to receive the input, just like hearing. It's not like one of you could be deaf or HoH either.

Yeah yeah we don't have to believe you. I know, but you keep making it harder to. You have to admit, that your story is rather fantastical. The more fantastical your story is the more skeptical people are going to be about. That's natural.....and I'm just saying. :hmm:
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The main problem with your complaint seems to be that you think you know a whole lot about how the human body works, and it's probably massively more complicated than your sense of it. I don't know if you'll take a New York Times article more seriously than someone telling you what her experience is, but here's an article that describes a boy named Timmy who can drink orange juice with no problem. There are nearly a dozen personalities/headmates alternating control/front (not sure whether I want to use terminology from NYT or the OP) and some of them break out in hives from OJ. If Timmy drinks it and then another front appears while it's being digested, the hives show up. If timmy comes back, they go away. I can't copy the article here because of the copyright, but you can read it if you care to: Probing the Enigma of Multiple Personality - New York Times

The article mentions documented cases of one personality experiencing color-blindness, while others do not. They mention a study in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease that demonstrates the phenomena you referred to as balderdash: they found significant changes in visual acuity, the shape and curvature of the eye and refraction depending on who was front.
 
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amylynne said:
The main problem with your complaint seems to be that you think you know a whole lot about how the human body works, and it's probably massively more complicated than your sense of it. I don't know if you'll take a New York Times article more seriously than someone telling you what her experience is, but here's an article that describes a boy named Timmy who can drink orange juice with no problem. There are nearly a dozen personalities/headmates alternating control/front (not sure whether I want to use terminology from NYT or the OP) and some of them break out in hives from OJ. If Timmy drinks it and then another front appears while it's being digested, the hives show up. If timmy comes back, they go away. I can't copy the article here because of the copyright, but you can read it if you care to: Probing the Enigma of Multiple Personality - New York Times

The article mentions documented cases of one personality experiencing color-blindness, while others do not. There's a study coming out in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease that demonstrates the phenomena you referred to as balderdash: they found significant changes in visual acuity, the shape and curvature of the eye and refraction depending on who was front.
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Well then I guess I just need to come up with another personality that isn't deaf :D
 
ambrosia said:
Well then I guess I just need to come up with another personality that isn't deaf :D
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You can't just add a person to your system at will, not even to a system of 1.
Besides... how would that change YOU? If I switch to a headmate that doesn't have the same limitation, they are not me. Sure, one of them could stay front and I never run in to the issue... but then when would I get to live and experience life?

Sorry my existence is "fantastical" to you. Although I'm perfectly happy being Multiple, I didn't choose it.
 
We used to know a system who had only one who tested positive for thyroid cancer, the rest of them came up negative. You can't fake a cancer test, especially when stunned doctors repeated it many times.

We know of, but dont personally know, a system who are all blind. Thier doctor explained what disease they had that made them blind. One headmate could see decently though.

Two friends of ours (both are in the same system) have a headmate who is deaf. This appeared on tests performed by doctors.

Just because you don't believe it doesn't mean it doesn't really happen. Likewise, you don't have to believe it no matter how real it is.

amylynne said:
The main problem with your complaint seems to be that you think you know a whole lot about how the human body works, and it's probably massively more complicated than your sense of it. I don't know if you'll take a New York Times article more seriously than someone telling you what her experience is, but here's an article that describes a boy named Timmy who can drink orange juice with no problem. There are nearly a dozen personalities/headmates alternating control/front (not sure whether I want to use terminology from NYT or the OP) and some of them break out in hives from OJ. If Timmy drinks it and then another front appears while it's being digested, the hives show up. If timmy comes back, they go away. I can't copy the article here because of the copyright, but you can read it if you care to: Probing the Enigma of Multiple Personality - New York Times

The article mentions documented cases of one personality experiencing color-blindness, while others do not. They mention a study in the Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease that demonstrates the phenomena you referred to as balderdash: they found significant changes in visual acuity, the shape and curvature of the eye and refraction depending on who was front.
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Mind over matter is only going to get you so far. It's a lot easier for brain to convince your body you can't do something your capable of than convince it it can do something it's not capable of. The hives for instance, genetically the dude is probably NOT allergic to oranges, his other personality is convinced they are, stress can cause hives, an actual allergy is not necessary fir them to appear. BUT if his body really was allergic to oranges, no amount of his brain convincing his body would change that. Someone who is high strung is going to have higher blood pressure than someone who's laid back.

Another example lets say one body has one personality that's legally blind, when it's front that personality is convinced it can't see. But if the body was truly legally blind no amount if convincing would make the others have 20/20 vision. If one personality thinks its paralyzed maybe that one could be convinced it can't walk, but if the body was in an accident and it's spine was severed and one personality thought it could walk, it still wouldn't be able to walk. Curiously mute for instance, she could talk, if she thought she could. But let's say her body did have some abnormality making speech impossible, and her situation was opposite, all her other personalized think the can't talk (and really can't) but curiously mute thinks tha she could. No amount of her thinking she could would make her able to talk.

I don't see how helpful their "studies" would be for the rest of the world. Other psyche patients maybe, that have issues where brain holds them back from doing something they are perfectly capable of doing? okay I can get behind that. You should always look at studies a bit cock eyed, and think about who is doing the studies and why. Researchers always want more funding, and studies are easily manipulated.
 
CuriouslyMute said:
You can't just add a person to your system at will, not even to a system of 1.
Besides... how would that change YOU? If I switch to a headmate that doesn't have the same limitation, they are not me. Sure, one of them could stay front and I never run in to the issue... but then when would I get to live and experience life?

Sorry my existence is "fantastical" to you. Although I'm perfectly happy being Multiple, I didn't choose it.
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You thought I was serious?
 
CuriouslyMute said:
No. But it points out that you think my headmates could just stand in for me, and you think it's fake enough to just add more, so I took the oppertunity to point stuff out.
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No, that's just what you think I think. You may have many people in your head, but you're not in mine, you don't know what I think.

And no, I don't think any of those things. I don't doubt multiple personalities, I do doubt you though. But if you're legit, I don't think they could sub for you, but I do think if you didn't think you couldn't talk, you could. I also bet if your other personality puts glasses on her vision stinks, she just thinks she's seeing well. And no I don't think multiples could be added at will, to a genuine case. I was being sarcastic, very very very sarcastic. Hell if even if I DID think I could add a personality it still wouldn't be able to hear lol.

I think that "study" could be used to treat people like you, someone convinced they can't do something they can.
 
A a child, I did think "well, if they can speak, I should be able to. I just have to figure out how". I spent HOURS at a time trying to make any voice sound at all. People were furious that I don't speak, and I wanted to make them happy.
At the time, I honestly thought it was a matter of not trying hard enough. The parts to speak with aren't missing...
Nope, all that trying, and still not a peep.

Even if you were right, it wouldn't change the fact that no amount of effort on my part produces speech.

I used to want to know why I can't speak, but that information has long since lost it's importance to me.


ambrosia said:
Mind over matter is only going to get you so far. It's a lot easier for brain to convince your body you can't do something your capable of than convince it it can do something it's not capable of. The hives for instance, genetically the dude is probably NOT allergic to oranges, his other personality is convinced they are, stress can cause hives, an actual allergy is not necessary fir them to appear. BUT if his body really was allergic to oranges, no amount of his brain convincing his body would change that. Someone who is high strung is going to have higher blood pressure than someone who's laid back.

Another example lets say one body has one personality that's legally blind, when it's front that personality is convinced it can't see. But if the body was truly legally blind no amount if convincing would make the others have 20/20 vision. If one personality thinks its paralyzed maybe that one could be convinced it can't walk, but if the body was in an accident and it's spine was severed and one personality thought it could walk, it still wouldn't be able to walk. Curiously mute for instance, she could talk, if she thought she could. But let's say her body did have some abnormality making speech impossible, and her situation was opposite, all her other personalized think the can't talk (and really can't) but curiously mute thinks tha she could. No amount of her thinking she could would make her able to talk.

I don't see how helpful their "studies" would be for the rest of the world. Other psyche patients maybe, that have issues where brain holds them back from doing something they are perfectly capable of doing? okay I can get behind that. You should always look at studies a bit cock eyed, and think about who is doing the studies and why. Researchers always want more funding, and studies are easily manipulated.
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Curiouslymute:A few minor questions: How did your "headmates" get within your head in the first place? Was there some "major occurence" at the same time?

Have you "discussed" with appriopate medical doctor on what to "do" so that you aren't "bothered anymore"?

At what age were you when you discovered "them"?

Of some relevance to this group-are some of "them"-DEAF?
 
drphil said:
Curiouslymute:A few minor questions: How did your "headmates" get within your head in the first place? Was there some "major occurence" at the same time?
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As far as any of us in the system can tell, we were born multiple.

drphil said:
Have you "discussed" with appriopate medical doctor on what to "do" so that you aren't "bothered anymore"?
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No, other than what our boss required to "accommodate" us by letting us use our names.
We are not "bothered" by being Multiple, and we have no intent on changing the fact that we are Multiple.

drphil said:
At what age were you when you discovered "them"?
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We each knew each other from as far back as we remember, long before we each had names and before we knew any terms to describe it with.

drphil said:
Of some relevance to this group-are some of "them"-DEAF?
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No. I started learning ASL because I can't speak, and I prefer making friends with Deaf people because they do not need me to speak in order to include me in conversation. So far, that has turned out to be a good fit for me, and my friends seem to like me.
All of us in my system are able to hear.
 
LadyAbigail said:
I am not deaf, but my dad is hard of hearing and it drives me nuts when people who should know better get so annoyed with him because they have to repeat something and it really bugs me if I go somewhere with my dad and he can't hear something a stranger has said to him so they treat him like he's stupid or at best just annoyed. "He's not stupid, you just don't know how to breathe deeply and use both your vocal chords and your lips like normal people!"

Sorry...rant over now. :)
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You sound just like my daughter!
 
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