I am....

candybrowneyes said:
1. The new experiences and people that I am meeting.
2. I can ignore people I want to ignore and now I have an excuse lol :giggle:
3. Knowing that I have a wonderful community that is behind me every step of the way.

AND thank you =)
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Great answers. Please post these somewhere, or keep them in your wallet and heart. Pull them out anytime you feel sad, overwhelmed, or isolated. Remember we're here for you :hug:
 
DeafDoc1 said:
Great answers. Please post these somewhere, or keep them in your wallet and heart. Pull them out anytime you feel sad, overwhelmed, or isolated. Remember we're here for you :hug:
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DeafDoc1 is right!!! You should do that! It always lifts your spirit and if it doesn't work, you come here and ramble on until you can no more!

I know I'm just a hearie but always available for a hug or two :giggle:

Jamie
 
JamieLynn said:
DeafDoc1 is right!!! You should do that! It always lifts your spirit and if it doesn't work, you come here and ramble on until you can no more!

I know I'm just a hearie but always available for a hug or two :giggle:

Jamie
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Jamie you are so sweet, hearing or not you are awesome! :hug:
 
Hear that? Me either! I just wish the stuff I do hear was not all tinnitus. What a strange trip your mind has taken in the last couple years. You look around here and see all the brilliant people; then you wonder why you felt shame and embarrassment for not hearing well. I think you are more deaf than I am, so keep the Welcome sign out there for me. We don't need radios or CDs; we got Ringing Bells by Tinnitus!
 
saywhatkid said:
Hear that? Me either! I just wish the stuff I do hear was not all tinnitus. What a strange trip your mind has taken in the last couple years. You look around here and see all the brilliant people; then you wonder why you felt shame and embarrassment for not hearing well. I think you are more deaf than I am, so keep the Welcome sign out there for me. We don't need radios or CDs; we got Ringing Bells by Tinnitus!
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:laugh2:
 
Let it all out! *hugs*

It can be difficult to admit things. So, let that be your first step to a better life. :thumb:
 
Hi candy

I'm a man..so i can't hug. But i can give u these 3 best things to remember as deafdoc said :

1. Yes, you can ignore people you want to ignore to.
2. You can take a bath as long as you like without being afraid your brother knocks your bathroom door asked for his turn.........:giggle:
3. You can wake up everytime because nothing could wake u up......:ty:

PS :

It's all just a joke candy, don't take it to heart. I've been deaf for almost 3 years so i can say, don't take everything personally. Just be your self n don't let anything or anyone spoiled your day because of your condition. remember, you are a normal person, u just can't hear. That's all.

So, wish everything works well on you.

Good luck sweet girl !
 
I think it's awesome that you're becoming comfortable with who you are!! That's hard no matter what circumstances may be... and I think you're very inspirational :)

:hug:
 
I actually can relate to you and this experience. I was born profoundly deaf...at first I was exposed to ASL and came to use it fluently...then I got thrown in an all-oral environment...and any signing/gesturing was prohibited. Eventually I learned to speak well enough to pass as being hearing (with an accent of sorts) and learned how to mesh into a hearing dominated society. Everyone claimed I was the poster child of oral-aural education...I was reading and writing on grade level, making honor roll grades, active in school with organizations, and such. Then one day I was invited to go to this public speaking thing where I could give a speech for a scholarship. And all of the participants were deaf, most of them were from the school for the deaf.

They signed. I spoke.

Yet...I began to remember. And a burning sensation at the pit of my stomach began.
The following week I flew to Washington, D.C. with my hearing classmates. We were doing some kind of school event there for a week. The organization put me in with a group of other deaf and hard of hearing students...and we all had sign language interpreters with us...I was too embarrassed to tell them that I typically do not use interpreters. And needless to say, that week...I realized I understood all what was happening.

I thought I understood what was going on...but the more I relied on the interpreters, the more I understood I had missed a lot during the last years of my school years.

I came back to my school the following week...and dropped out.

They asked me for my reason...and I told them I finally realized something very important.

I'm deaf...and it's okay.

I do not always understand spoken speech, but it's because I cannot hear. It's not because I'm not trying hard enough or I'm not using my amplication enough.

I may not always understand social implications such as responding to the intercoms overhead or telephones...but it's okay. I'm just deaf.

What a revelation. And the burden on my heart finally lifted.
 
CBE,

I was born profoundly deaf and never learned ASL. Grew up oral and around hearing people most of the time. When I was younger, I never really noticed nor felt something was amiss until 4th grade when the social dynamics changed. I remember seeing my friends able to participate in class discussions while I was kept out, seeing my friends talk on the phone and call each other while none could call me, my friends understanding and discussing what was being said on TV while I played along like I could understand, my friends and I going to the movies and them asking me what I thought of the movie and my answer was always, "It was ok" because I had no idea how good or terrible the movies were, my friends singing along the songs and I just moved my mouth pretending I could sing along with them too, and so much more.

All of my life I was fighting my deafness trying to be a "hearing" person like my friends and each time I failed to accomplish that, a part of me died until I was left with a huge hollow hole which I tried to fill with by engaging in self-destructive behaviors as a young adult. Drinking escessively in social situations so I could be the life of a party not a wallpaper, starving myself so people can be attracted to my body, maxing my credit cards on expensive stuff so I can impress people by having fancy stuff, and then hiding my hearing aids so people wont ask me about them. All those years of these kinds of behaviors and way of thinking of trying to fit in the only world I knew, I became very very depressed and hated myself with a passion.


It was when I learned ASL and finally felt a connection with others in the Deaf community and being in an environment where information, communication, and language was 100% accessible to me, I started the journey of accepting myself as a deaf person.

It has been almost 10 years since I have realized that it was ok to be a deaf person, the quality of my life has been so much better. Like DBG said, it was like the weight of the world has been lifted off.

:cheers: to your journey, CBE!!!
 
I've been learning BSL since last September. Everyone else in the class is hearing and when they are talking amongst themselves I can't hear what they are saying. However, last week someone was signing whilst she was speaking, and I could understand everything. I thought 'This is Great', I should have learnt BSL years ago. I now realise that I am Deaf, even though I was brought up oral, and BSL is the way to go.
 
Didnt you know, that BSL is very similar to AUSLAN?
 
I am HOH and okay with it

No more grieving for me. Toomuch to live for. No time for sadness!:yesway::D
 
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