Hi there...born deaf in both ears in an era before CIs. I learned to speak and lipread very well so I was mainstreamed with no support. Let me tell you, it was hell. I grew up to hating myself and dreaming of being hearing until I learned ASL at 25 years old. Since then, I got involved with the Deaf community and for the first time, I have found true happiness within myself. I am not ashamed of being deaf and happy with who I am. I use ASL 99% of the time because speaking and being in the hearing world, I felt like most people really didnt try to meet me halfway. I was the one always accomodating to meet hearing people's needs. Like DeafCaroline, I said, "f*** you to the hearing world."
My deaf brother who is 4 years younger than me never developed speech skills and went to a deaf school. He grew up without all the baggage I did and is more confident in the hearing world than I am.
Go figure, heh?
Pls keep doing ASL and also exposed him to speech therapy as well but dont make speech as the focus of his life. I grew up thinking that if I had perfect speech, people would accept me. It didnt happen. Now, I just use my speech as a tool but not as way of living.
