Personal Narrative-Deaf

Ever since I was young, I knew something was different about me. I’ve always had an active imagination and would write all kinds of stories, sometimes through pictures and sometimes through words. Not until I was in first grade did I notice my writing was different than my friends. It didn’t bother me though because I was too young to realize something was wrong; I was just different. One weekend, after playing restaurant with my mom and brother, my mom contacted my teacher to talk about some concerns she had with my reading and writing. She was told that I seemed to be progressing on an age-appropriate level with my peers and that nothing appeared to be wrong. But my mom persisted, and insisted that I be tested for a reading disability. My dad is dyslexic and my mom, knowing it can be passed down, was watching for the signs in my older brother first and now me. After testing, one of SV’s school psychologists announced that my results showed I had a learning disability. I then went to my pedestrian to talk about it and then to a special learning center in Sewickley for further

Lynn was finally fitted with hearing aids, but she still showed no progress with her hearing. She began going to a pure oral school called Jane Brooks School for the Deaf and after six months of attending, she could successfully lip read more than 200 words. Finally, after months and months of working with Lynn, she said her first word. Although she could not yet say the ending of the word, she shouted “Bruuuuuu” as often as she could. As Lynn grew older she continued to have outbursts of tantrums because she could not tell people what she meant, how she felt, what she wanted.

As I was laying on the cushioned couch on a Saturday afternoon, my phone began buzzing in my dark black Nike basketball shorts. As I read the caller ID I noticed that it was my mom. As soon as I picked up the phone I knew something was wrong. My mom's voice was scratchy, and depressed. As I picked up the phone she immediately told me the horrifying news. For a few seconds I had to comprehend what I was hearing. After I analyzed what she had said I screeched my lungs out, bawling hysterically, as if I had heard that the world was ending. For a moment I couldn't breathe, hearing that our healthy Chihuahua had passed away. After that tragic day, about a few months later, even though I was still awestruck by that wretched day the question finally

The novel Deaf Like Me is an extremely compelling and inspirational story. The story revolves around a little girl named Lynn Spradley who was diagnosed with deafness at a very young age. The story is a timeline which takes the reader through the countless struggles that Lynn’s parents, Tom and Louise, encountered when learning to live with the deafness that Lynn was born with.

Louise was informed by doctors and Friends not to use gestures or sign to Lynn but to only talk to her and treat her as a normal child so that she someday may become oral and learn to speak.

I received a call from Lorna and Christina. Lorna said that she got an Order of Dismissal from the Hearing Rep, but she did not understand what it says, what this is about. She swiftly read it, saying that the claimant file a hearing on 05/10/17, which is a very late request.

We were all scared. My grandpa, dad and I running straight into the track. The only thought there was in my mind was, he isn 't okay. Making sure that he turns over and lays on his back as someone calls 911, I left to go get the cart from the trailer. As I left the track to get it, I start crying, fearing the worst. I run back the track and have my dad help me put the car on the trailer cart and pull it back to the trailer and run back to my uncle. As I got back to my uncle, he was talking some intolerable words. After a few minuets, I heard my name from him.

I grew up at a Deaf residential school. For most of the time I slept there at the dorm. We –they had a night supervisor who also slept on site. Aww, she was such a very sweet old women. She retired at her old job and got a new job here at the Deaf residential school where I was staying. It was four of us girls she would watch. Nine-nine-thirty the lights were out. But at midnight, me and my three roommates decided we’d meet at- meet up. So I waited till midnight. I kept looking at my clock- is it time, is it time? And then the clock struck midnight. Me and my friends we met up. One of the girl had a boyfriend who came back from Canada. He had bought a whole sack of c-f- firecrackers when he was there. They’re not allowed here in the states but he bought them anyway.

I grew up in a white middle class family of five. Growing up my father worked as a chef at Pier-9. Even though this is a family owned restaurant, he worked long crazy hours which made it seem like my mom raised us by herself. As a baby I was very sick causing many developmental delays. When I started school I struggled and my grades reflected my difficulties. My teachers did very little to try help me understand what they were teaching, but my mom never gave up. Instead, she fought for me to get tested and I was finally diagnosed with Central Auditory Processing Disorder where I then started to get pulled out of class for speech and academic intervention. During this time I would get help developing essential skills but I was being pulled out

Tyrone Smith, Artist extraordinaire, is the focus of this interaction. I have known Tyrone for about 6 years. We met when he began working at my job. I was responsible for his training. I have known Tyrone for some time, but have never asked him about his hearing loss or deafness. Intrigued to know more I requested to interview him on a beautiful day during our lunch break. He is the first deaf/HOH person I ever met. He is funny, extremely talented and a dedicated father, who speaks well though he is deaf.

The biggest obstacle that I have encountered in my ability to read and write are my learning disabilities. I’ve went through 18 years of my life before they were identified, and they have caused me so much frustration. I couldn’t understand why other kids could read out loud so well and I couldn’t. I couldn’t understand why it took me so long to read only a few pages of a book when other kids were at the end of the chapter. I had no idea why I couldn’t even sit down to write a single paper when other kids were doing their essays in a span of a couple hours.

I was bouncing up and down in my car seat my seat belt trying to keep a hold of me. I was so excited to finally get to go to six flags. As we pulled up to get into the parking lot, they wind rushed through my hair, I stuck my head out the window to get a better view of six flags. The rides going back in forth and the people eagerly waiting in line to get in. we pulled up to a parking. The car came to a stopped, everyone jolted forward and then back in their seats. I opened the door stepping out and letting the rest of the people come out. The door slammed behind me and echoed through the parking lot. We made our way getting closer and closer to the amusement park, my older cousins were walking behind me and the young ones who were running across the street playing, my uncle screamed at them to not play in the street.

Noted Deaf educator Tom Holcomb, in his 2010 paper, Deaf Epistemology: the deaf way of knowing, posits that the flow of knowledge is fundamentally different in hearing and Deaf cultures. That is, Deaf learners tend to collect information from direct experience or from the secondhand experiences reported to them by other Deaf persons. Hearing learners accumulate information through oral transmission, mostly in formal educational settings but also via casual social contacts. (Holcomb, 2010). Indeed one study has suggested that because formal educational settings are biased toward oral instruction. Deaf learners acquire only about 12% of the information that is available to the hearing. (DHHS, 2015)

Imagine waking up to your mom flashing the lights and stomping her feet on the floor. You can vaguely see her feet moving and feel the vibration running through the room but you can’t hear her feet hit the floor. This is because you are deaf.

In this society, people try to understand other types of cultures and groups, however, that does not always happen. There are people who have many misconceptions and others that just make stereotypes about a group. People are being misjudged because of all the stereotypes being made. Misconceptions and stereotypes are two different terms. However, both are direct to a certain group. Every person sees a group differently, that is why there are many stereotypes and misconceptions. Men and women have different points of view, resulting in different kinds of stereotypes. Deaf people are perceived as people who need to get “fixed”, who are not capable of anything, and who are freaks.