Imagine if two people approach you and start speaking to you, and suddenly you realize you can’t hear anything around you and cannot understand a word they are saying even though they repeat themselves five times. Imagine if two more people approach. You would probably start sweating, having thoughts running in your head, trying to control your overwhelming fear, and trying to understand what’s happening to you. You might even feel nausea or like your heart is beating too fast. Worst of all is feeling like you are stuck in a black box and cannot get out. From my experience, I can tell you that ..read more

We recently held a Deaf for a Day experience at community-incubator and co-working space 1909 in downtown West Palm Beach. Members voluntarily participated for a short time to experience what it would be like to be deaf. By wearing earplugs for a day or muting a Zoom call, members of the hearing community tried out what it would be like to be deaf for a day (and some only made it an hour!). Below, we share their real-life experiences: “Only one hour and I was killed! I tried to get into conversations, but the tool I’ve used my entire life was not working. I got scared, embarrassed, felt excl ..read more

Is Lip Reading As Easy As Reading? I was recently having a group conversation with three people and all I understood was: “s_ _ _ _ done _ ay_ _ _ _ _ today _ F _ _ n. Sci_ _n” I said, “I’m sorry, can you repeat that again?” “this _ _ _ w_e_ done _ _ _ this _ _ _ _ day _ _ _ F _ _ _ _ _ n . _ _ Science?” It doesn’t make any sense, right? Given the context, I think she was probably saying, “We’re done with this for today”—or at least something close to this. I’m not sure where the word “science” came from! I wanted to ask her to repeat what she was saying for a third time but I couldn’t because ..read more

When I meet people for the first time and tell them I’m deaf, their knee-jerk reaction is usually one of sympathy. “Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that,” they tell me, reaching out their hand to squeeze my arm and reassure me. While I understand their motivation is pure—they’re operating out of compassion while addressing an experience they don’t understand—I don’t need pity. I don’t need sympathy, and I don’t need anyone to feel sorry for me. I may have a disability, but I don’t feel I’m operating at a disadvantage—after all, being deaf is all I know. Imagine how you’d feel if you shared with someo ..read more

Is Lip Reading As Easy As Reading? I was recently having a group conversation with three people and all I understood was: “s_ _ _ _ done _ ay_ _ _ _ _ today _ F _ _ n. Sci_ _n” I said, “I’m sorry, can you repeat that again?” “this _ _ _ w_e_ done _ _ _ this _ _ _ _ day _ _ _ F _ _ _ _ _ n . _ _ Science?” It doesn’t make any sense, right? Given the context, I think she was probably saying, “We’re done with this for today”—or at least something close to this. I’m not sure where the word “science” came from! I wanted to ask her to repeat what she was saying for a third time but I couldn’t because ..read more