Through the Deaf's Eyes

Question: What does it mean to be deaf or hard-of-hearing?

Answer: Simple. It means you can’t hear.

Question: What it is like being deaf or hard-of-hearing?

Answer: Simple. It’s like being a goldfish. It’s like being a goldfish in a bowl. It’s watching everything and feeling like being in a different dimension, always having to watch, always needing to be aware. It’s knowing that lips are moving, and hearing gibberish. It’s tired eyes and headaches. It’s being denied repeated answers with “Neverminds” and “Don’t worry about its.” It’s being on an island among foreigners. It’s laughing at the old jokes with a five to ten second delay. It’s wondering if they are whispering about you. It’s when the first thing you notice about a person is their lips, then the crookedness of their teeth. It’s training your brain to recognize the shape of the lips and the placement of the tongue. It’s a strategy. It’s repetition. It’s keeping your eyes closely engaged in the conversation, watching back and forth between people, like a tennis ball in the court, the words being tossed from mouth to mouth, then laughter. It’s forcing a laugh when you realize they are laughing. It’s nodding as if you understand what is going on when nothing makes sense. It’s feeling like a fool when you nod at the wrong thing. It’s shaking your head quickly when you realize you nodded at the wrong thing. It’s preferring quiet to loud, light to dark, simple to complex. It’s finding contentment within your own realm. It’s normal. It’s simple, really.