My Personal Story on the Challenge of Being Deaf

645 Words2 Pages

Imagine seeing people speaking, moving their mouths and not being able to hear anything. Welcome to the world of deafness. The journey for someone who is deaf can be challenging, but those challenges can be overcome with perseverance. Today I am going to share with you the story of my journey with deafness and see that if I am my disability. It is an experience that has shaped my life through body, mind, and spiritual matter. First of all, when I was a baby, my Mom noticed that I was not responding when she called my name. Each time Mom took me to the doctor, the doctor said everything was fine. One time the doctor clapped behind my head to test my hearing. I turned to the doctor and the doctor told Mom, “See, he can hear.” When I was 18 months old, Mom asked the doctor, “shouldn’t he be talking by now?” The doctor said,” Boys are slow. My son never talked until he was 2 ½ years old and then he just started talking in sentences.” But, Mom didn’t give up. She took me to an audiologist to have my hearing tested. The audiologist diagnosed me as being deaf. This is where I was truly my own body, being deaf without a cochlear implant. My parents showed they loved and cared about me by not giving up when they thought something was wrong. This is kind of ironic because I was my own body and my parents wanted to change it for the good. Meaning that they want to give me a cochlear implant so I can hear. Then, when I was three years old, I had surgery to get a cochlear implant at the University of Minnesota. A cochlear implant is a small device which bypasses the damaged parts of the ear and directly stimulates the auditory nerve. Signals generated by the implant are sent by the auditory nerve to the brain, which recognizes t... ... middle of paper ... ...nger needed. I was excited, but very nervous. Northern Voices only had about 5 students in each classroom and Rice Lake had about 27. It was so noisy! I saw kids chattering, but was so shy to meet them. The kids were welcoming and I quickly made friends through talking. This moment I felt that talking is now part of me as it is ingrained into my soul. Signing has left my soul. Growing up with hearing students for the past 12 years, I no longer feel that I am part of the deaf community, but part of the hearing community. My true self blossomed. The difference between body and self So today, I have shared with you my journey in deafness. Being deaf can be hard, but it is not the end of the world. I can do what anyone else can do such as talk, play sports and hang out with friends. Every person’s journey is different. For me the key to success is perseverance.

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