One of the most difficult things for people who are hearing challenged is to admit that they are. I have been blogging since 2008, and it took me two years to finally admit that I was deaf. I had it in my mind that my readers would look at me differently if they knew that I haven’t heard a sound for 20 years.
But, instead, I think that being deaf is a reason that some of you ARE reading these words. You celebrate diversity by understanding adversity. 😉 I have learned a lot about myself and deafness/hearing loss in these intervening years, and can’t even estimate how many of my almost 5,000 posts here on RJsCorner are at least related to my deafness.
As a sort of celebration of that “coming out” so many years ago, I want to point you to that first “I Am Deaf” post 13 years ago.
Click HERE to See it.
BTW … For those of you who were expecting another “End Of Life Trauma” post, I want to let you know that will come next Wednesday. I just need more time to thrash it out, This will likely be the most emotional and difficult post I have written in my 13-years on RJsCorner, and I want to make sure it is just “right”.
RJ's Corner 
At 17, my granddaughter works hard to hide her deafness, easier for her than for you, I’m sure, since she has cochlear implants. Still, people don’t understand that cochlear implants function by sorting out which sounds will be sent to her cochlear nerves. A teacher at the front of the room can speak loudly, but my granddaughter will not hear that teacher if a two students nearer her are talking. The other day in class, a student asked if the teacher could put on the closed captioning on a film they were watching, saying he could decipher it best if the captions were on. The teacher refused. When the boy asked the second time, the teacher refused more vehemently, saying, “It’s not as if you’re deaf.” The whole class gasped and turned to my granddaughter. She was mortified, especially when the boy told the teacher why they were gasping and also that he was supposed to put on the closed captioning anytime a student asked. The teacher apologized and said he hadn’t noticed it on her 504 plan. A girl who does well in school, has overcome many other challenges, has friends of many years’ duration and is beautiful, too, she still fights the feeling that no one will like her if they know. Your “coming out” and those of others helps young people struggling with these issues.
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