On Mother Father Deaf, a CODA (child of deaf adults) discusses that CODAs “are not normal or the same as the rest of the hearing world.” I think it depends on the deaf adult and communication preferences. But even if a deaf parent speaks and lipreads, CODAs do experience life a little differently. I have …
Category: The D Life
Isolation
Many times, I’ve attended a dance recital, sports event, or appreciation luncheon where I stood in the crowd talking to each other — feeling anxious and isolated. “Why doesn’t anyone talk to me? Someone has to make conversation,” I think to myself. Oh sure, I could start the conversation, but that fear is explained. Some …
Initiating Conversations
How to Initiate Conversation had me thinking about my experiences in social settings especially those where I knew few people or no one. While I have a few basic questions to break the ice, I rarely use them because I’m afraid to start a conversation. Shy? No. Fear of speaking? No. Fear of understanding the …
Partnering with Kids' Teachers
Thank goodness our independent school district allows teachers and parents communicate by e-mail. The district also provides online tools for reviewing grades, attendance and lunch account updates. One of my kids runs into a situation a little more than the average student, so e-mail plays a valuable role in keeping communication open between the school …
Social Bluffing
I loved Karen’s entry on dealing with adversity and her mention of social bluffing. I never realized the act of just doing what everyone else does had a name. I learned the guilty way that social bluffing can lead to trouble. My husband knows me so well that he’ll catch me bluffing and repeat the …
Dealing with Adversity
Stephen Hopson of Adversity University asks how people deal with adversity. I believe if I weren’t deaf that I wouldn’t know how to deal with adversity as well as I do today. Here I’ve posted my 10 tips for dealing with adversity.
Can Deaf People Whistle?
I never considered that my inability to whistle could be because of my deafness. Ocean brought up whistling and the deaf. My family told me where to place my tongue, how much to open my lips and all that. All that comes out is noisy air and sometimes spit, not a note. I can’t even …
Discovering New Songs
Believe it or not, Deaf people enjoy music. Each experiences music in his own way. Some play music like Beethoven’s Nightmare. Some turn up the stereo and feel the vibrations. Some listen through hearing aids and cochlear implants. This applies to songs not originally written for ASL. Growing up, I loved musical theater music. I …
Captioning a Baseball Game
Wow! The Pittsburgh Pirates have captioning at their home games! No wonder the stadium scored the number one spot for accessibility. I can’t wait to tell my dad this — he’s the big baseball fan in the family and rubbed it off on me. I’m thankful I can still tell my dad something after he …
Talking to Second Graders
In Reading to Students, I discussed a bad experience in reading to my daughter’s second grade class and how reluctant I was doing it for my current second grader (for four more days). I e-mailed the teacher who said I could talk to the class on Thursday, May 17. And so I did. Those of …