Today I was invited to attend an NFTA meeting for the first time. It was my turn to say what I had to say. Colleen handed me the microphone. Now I have not used a microphone in over 15 years, I didn't know how to work it. It was sort of embarrassing the way it squealed when I tried to talk and the sound was bouncing on and off. Anyway, I gave my speech over that microphone. What I mainly discussed was telling them a little bit about my deafness and then I told everyone that I wasn't happy with the services for the deaf passengers in the airports. I told them they need to add closed captioning screens on the airplanes when they do the safety demonstrations, otherwise I will never understand what is going on. And the people at the NFTA meeting did a great job of facing me when they spoke so that I could lipread and they all spoke loud and clear for me. I was absolutely amazed at how well they did to help me understand what was going on in the meeting. So I thanked them all for making me feel welcomed there and for understanding my communication needs. They used the microphone for me and that was very nice of them. So it went well.
Well done Susana. The meeting seemed to go well, and hopefully things will be greatly improved for those who have hearing problems. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was a pretty interesting experience. :)
ReplyDeleteReally happy for you...although it is sometimes scary to talk to a lot of people but at least you have done your part and I salute you! hopefully things will change for the better especially for people like you!!!
ReplyDeleteThank you and yes, it's was the first time I have used a microphone for a little speech in over 25 years. I used to work in the Work Shops on Deafness at N.T.I.D in Rochester, NY. There I gave many speeches back in the college days. Now I can't remember a thing.
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