I feel like I'm about to tell a story everyone has heard before.
When I was 14, I was diagnosed with Menieres. My initial doctor gave my parents all the information they would need to know about Menieres, and sent us on our merry way. My dad was in the military, and shortly after the diagnosis, we moved to a post over seas.
My parents never took me to any follow up appointments regarding the Menieres, and I continued to endure the symptoms very much on my own.
As I have gotten older (I'm 24 now), I've begun to notice a sudden, rapid increase in the severity of the symptoms, and I'm unsure how to procede.
I haven't seen a doctor about it yet, but the strained ability to hear has begun to wear on me heavily (I teach middle school). I have an appointment made to discuss my next steps, but I just wonder how I will fit into this community as someone who is "hard of hearing." Especially if I decide to pick up ASL as an adult learner.
I have a very good childhood friend who is deaf, and she struggled very much to make sense of her own place within the hearing/deaf communities. She often spoke of the drama/turmoil that surrounded deaf or HoH people who were able to navigate both worlds and how they seemed to just float in between, never fitting anywhere.
As someone who has grown up hearing, will I ever really fit in?
When I was 14, I was diagnosed with Menieres. My initial doctor gave my parents all the information they would need to know about Menieres, and sent us on our merry way. My dad was in the military, and shortly after the diagnosis, we moved to a post over seas.
My parents never took me to any follow up appointments regarding the Menieres, and I continued to endure the symptoms very much on my own.
As I have gotten older (I'm 24 now), I've begun to notice a sudden, rapid increase in the severity of the symptoms, and I'm unsure how to procede.
I haven't seen a doctor about it yet, but the strained ability to hear has begun to wear on me heavily (I teach middle school). I have an appointment made to discuss my next steps, but I just wonder how I will fit into this community as someone who is "hard of hearing." Especially if I decide to pick up ASL as an adult learner.
I have a very good childhood friend who is deaf, and she struggled very much to make sense of her own place within the hearing/deaf communities. She often spoke of the drama/turmoil that surrounded deaf or HoH people who were able to navigate both worlds and how they seemed to just float in between, never fitting anywhere.
As someone who has grown up hearing, will I ever really fit in?