Hi Hear Again,
As a deaf blind person; What has been one of your most challenging task in life?
that's a good question!
i would say the most difficult challenge in my life has been accepting and loving myself as a deafblind person.
after i lost my hearing, i had an extremely difficult time coping and took my anger out on everyone. even the director of the deafblind center at the time was afraid to say something wrong for fear of upsetting me. she constantly had to walk on eggshells because i was so sensitive and angry.
it wasn't until i started learning alternative communication techniques, met other deafblind people like myself at aadb (american association of the deaf-blind) and joined a support group that i began to understand that there was life (and a happy one at that!) after deafblindness.
the more communication skills i learned, the stronger i became inside. the more deafblind people i met, the less ashamed i was of my own dual disabilities.
in this process, i also had to learn how to advocate for myself and identify myself as someone who was deafblind rather than "blind and hard of hearing."
it took a long time for me to do that, but eventually i reached the point where i was proud of my own deafblindness and felt no shame in calling myself such.
even though i have ci's, i still feel that way today.
first and foremost, i am a person who is proud of being deafblind and no one can take that away from me.
