Friday, November 23, 2012

Deaf Lady going out to eat

           Here I am going out to eat with my family at a Chinese restaurant.     We look at the menu and decide what to order.   It's a Friday night, so the place is crowded and especially noisy.   My daughter already knows what I am ordering, it's always the same exact thing every time we eat Chinese food.     The waitress is standing behind me asking me what I would like to drink, and of course I didn't hear her at all.      So my mom apologizes to her and explains that I have a hearing problem.     Then I turn around and ask her to repeat it.    Well she is speaking very low, so I have to ask someone else what she said.     Finally I ordered a Shirley temple after I finally understood what she was saying.       Then it was time to order our food.      She asked me what I would like to eat, and I said Pineapple chicken.      Then she repeated after me, oh you want seafood rice?   At that point I just assumed she said  Pineapple chicken because that's what I wanted, and I couldn't hear her in that place, so I just wanted it over with, I was hungry and I said yes.     Half hour passes by, I spill my Shirley temple all over the table  because someone walked into my chair.     So I ordered another one and boy I was embarrassed.     I don't like to be messy but sometimes it just happens.  Finally our food arrives.    I can't wait to eat that chicken.       She gives me the seafood rice.   I said what is this?  Where's my dinner?    She says that's what you ordered, and I said not I didn't order that!   And she apologizes and takes it back and I have to wait another half hour for my food.    :(

Angels - Jessica Simpson [Lyrics]

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Car Radio

          Even when people around me are aware I am deaf, I'm trying to describe deeper in depth what I can and can't hear, and it's hard to explain sometimes.    For example, if you turn on the radio in the car, and turn it up louder, people would assume I can hear it.     Yes, and no, I can tell it is louder, simply because I can feel the vibration coming the sounds of it, but the words are blurry, I will never understand words being said over a car radio, no matter how loud it is.   Even if the words are loud and clear, as if a speech was going on, I still would not make out what is being said.   With my hearing aids, it enables me to hear a lot of sounds, but I still cannot hear certain letters in words, etc.   This is why I rarely turn on my car radio, or even any kind of radio, does not work for me, and the same problem goes with music on it.    If it has a nice tone to it, I will  listen to it, but I will never understand the words in the song as it comes out like how static comes out in a radio, the words break up.  The only way I will be able to understand a song over a radio simply is if I already know the song.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

I wrote this in the 1980's and it was published at N.T.I.D.

                                                       
                                                                 Get Out Of The Way


                                                            Hey, what has become of you

                                                                            move

                                                                   get out of my way

                                                                   get out of my life

                                                            don't show me your sad face
                                                             
                                                                  cause i won't care

                                                                      not right now

                                                                      that's enough

                                                                      leave me alone

                                                                     I don't need you

                                                                          no more

                                                                    I have my own life

                                                                    who need yours

                                                                         go away

                                                                       leave me alone 

                                                                 I love being on my own

                                                                        come on

                                                                 go find another friend

                                                                 I have my own friends

                                                                   I don't need you

                                                                   get out of the way

                                                               I don't want to see you

                                                                          no way

                                                                   I like my own life

                                                                     leave me alone

                                                                     hide your face

                                                                         get out

                                                                 I don't want to see you

                                                                        no more

                                                                     had enough

                                                                           of you

                                                                         leave me   

                                                                         go away

                                                        
                                                                                         


My Hearing Loss

            I have been over 75 percent deaf since the day I was born.   My mother had German measles when she was pregnant and she didn't know it.    That might be the reason why I was born deaf.   After I was born I didn't speak till after I was two years old, and the doctors told my parents that I could hear.     I wasn't diagnosed that I was deaf till I was over 2 years old.   That's when they got me hearing aids and I started to learn how to talk.      What does it sound like to me when I am not wearing the hearing aids?        Well, it's the same disappointing feeling as listening to your favorite song on the radio and having someone shut off when the song is not over and you wanted to hear the rest of it.  It goes silent and you don't hear any more of it.  And you want to keep listening to the song, but you can't, it's off, so you are feeling slightly disappointed.       When I am wearing the hearing aids, I can hear the t.v. but can't make out the words or conversation being said on it, I can hear music, but can't understand the words, I hear people talking, and can hear dogs barking if there are any dogs around, and can hear a lot of things which is good.        Once they are off, I really can't hear anything, the world sounds silent.  And if people are in the same room and talking, I won't hear any of it, unless I do a good job of lipreading the words.     If you were to be facing me in the same room, and wanted to talk to me, I would not hear your voice, just maybe a little bit echoing in the background.     The only way I would understand what you are saying is by lipreading the words,which I am a pro at.       The only way I'd be able to hear a little bit of your voice if you were to speak loudly right into my ears but barely.     I feel like I am missing out on what is going on around me in terms of sounds when my hearing aids are not on, so I am usually wearing them most of the time.    My hearing was always worst in my right ear than in my left, and there was no explanation for that either.     When I was born, I had close to a 75 % loss in my left ear, and over an 80% loss in my right ear.       According to my last most recent hearing test, I was told I had a 90 % hearing loss in both ears, as it has gotten worst I assume.     But I am not sure if that is accurate, I should go for another hearing test eventually to keep myself updated on that.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Red the cat


When I used to live in an apartment I used to have this special cat named Red.     He would let me know if someone was at the door or if the phone was ringing if I happened to be asleep.    Whenever there was knocking on my door he would run to the door like a dog, look at it, then he would run back to me and tap me on the shoulder with his paw and it would wake me up.  Then when he saw my eyes open he would look at me, then run back to the door to show me someone was there knocking.  It was so cute.  He thought he was a dog.   I can't hear the knocking or the phone ringing when I am not wearing my hearing aids, so he was there to help.  I've never had a cat like that before, he really made it easier for me for a while, till I had to give him away .     He did the same thing if the phone rang, he would make sure I was up to answer it, by tapping me and running back and forth to the phone.     That is one cat I will never forget, I didn't even have to train him.

Monday, November 12, 2012

How do I wake up on time if I can't hear the alarm clock?

 For a while I have tried setting the volume on my alarm clock at the top volume, hoping I would hear it.   But with my hearing aids off, it was very hard for me to hear it as soon as it went off.   It would be about ten to 20 minutes until I would hear a faint sound in the background then I would wake up, sometimes I wouldn't hear it at all.  But it would wake up my daughter constantly instead of me, and she would come running into my room yelling turn that thing off!  It's too loud and you woke up everyone in the whole building!    And I started to feel bad about that as I wouldn't want anyone to wake me up if I didn't have to be up early.     Now I am using a an alarm clock with a vibrator that I put under my pillow that works very well, and it gets me up right on time.

About Me




After I was born, the doctors told my parents I could hear. But I never turned around when they called my name. They couldn't get me to learn to speak. It wasn't till I was three years old, it was discovered I was deaf. Then I learned to speak after wearing hearing aids which helped me to hear. Growing up in school was a little hard for me as I didn't know what was being said in class or what was going on half of the time. I lipread to make out the words. Many times in class they would show educational programs on t.v. and there was no close captioning. Therefore I didn't understand a word being said on t.v. Thank god for closed captioning on t.v.s these days, it really helps me to understand everything going on in the show. I went to the South Brunswick High school in New Jersey. But I decided to join the M.K.S.D school for the deaf in Trenton, NJ to see what it would be like to be in a deaf high school, that's when I learned sign language in 11th grade. They said I was too advanced for the deaf school, so they let me skip 12th grade and go straight to college at N.T.I.D. I really liked going to a deaf school as it was a change for me and I got to associate with some deaf people and to communicate with signing. I graduated with two high school diplomas. One from M.K.S.D, the school for the deaf, and the other from the South Brunswick High school. While I was in college, I worked in the Workshops on Deafness and taught a little sign language which was fun. Then I graduated in 1988 with a degree in Office Technologies from N.T.I.D. After that I have been working at a really good full time job for over 23 years. Luckily I didn't have to pass any test for that one. I was hired back in 1988 because they were looking for someone to help interpret to the deaf customers what was being said to them. I really loved being able to use sign language to help the deaf understand what was going on.