Playing The Piano Despite A Severe Hearing Loss
Despite being born with a severe hearing loss, my European parents encouraged me to learn to play the piano at an early age. Although distinguishing speech from background noise has always been a great challenge, the piano tones were clear, particularly in the middle...
My Brother–My Link to the World
All my life I have greatly relied on one important person to help me engage with the hearing world. Over the years different people filled this role; my younger brother, a best friend, a boyfriend, my first husband, and now my current husband. They helped me connect...
From Memories to Memoir: What Motivated Me to Document My Journey
I'd like to share a deeply personal part of my life with you. Over the years, many have inquired about the inspiration behind my upcoming memoir, "But You Look So Normal: Lost and Found in a Hearing World." The journey to penning this memoir has been both reflective...
Here is how I Embrace Quality Time in my Zero Gravity Chair
Recently I purchased a Zero gravity chair for my patio to lie in and simply do nothing and relax. The sun is warm and the aroma of this spring’s resplendent roses waft over me. I am just thrilled with my chair. It is so ingrained in our culture these days, the...
The Hidden Struggle of Lipreading and Masks
One secondary impact of our Covid pandemic that affects me and so many others with hearing loss, but something that most people are quite unaware of, is the wearing of masks. I am very dependent on lipreading and visual cues despite the amplification provided by my...
SILENCE
Not yet knowing what it was to hear and speak, I had no idea what I’d been missing, that other people experienced the world differently. As a little girl with a severe hearing loss, I felt completely at home in my world defined by visual communication and other...
Listening with a Hearing Loss
Born with a severe hearing loss, but not diagnosed until I was four when I received my first hearing aid, I worked hard to learn to hear, lipread and speak. Here I am at age 4, trying to make out songs on my little record player. Even with a hearing aid, as I couldn’t...
Lost in my own World
When I was 4 years, apart from some babbling and a few words, I was not yet talking. My parents had not picked up that something might be wrong. In Kindergarten I was truly lost in my own world oblivious to the singing and activities of the other children. My nursery...