Although I am close with my family, I sometimes feel a bit lost in the shuffle at family gatherings, especially with my sister’s family.  They spend much of their time with her husband’s extended family, including annual trips and holidays.  This makes it a little difficult for me to spend time with my niece and nephew, whom I love dearly; as they grow older, it’s getting harder to maintain that bond with them.  Unfortunately, this is also partly my fault since I didn’t always make the effort to stay in touch with them, due to depression and social isolation.

Last weekend, I attended a 50th anniversary party for my sister’s in-laws.  I didn’t know most of the people there, so I felt like a bit of an outsider.  When the couple ran the slideshow of pictures from their lives, I didn’t see any pictures of me even once with my nephew and niece, but everyone else, including my parents, were shown.  Although I know it wasn’t done intentionally, I did feel a bit put down because I felt like I had created such a special bond with my nephew and niece and those memories were just overlooked.

Describe your relationship with your family at this week’s Open Chat Night.  How did your familial relationships affect your lives?  Do your family members make an effort to include you?  Does it relate to your hearing loss as well?

You can also leave a comment here or discuss How do you define your family relationships? in the forum.

I am discovering that more people in our community are choosing to undergo cochlear implantation and other surgeries.  Even though surgery procedures are usually similar, the outcome and recovery process can be different for everyone.

I have never had any type of surgery, except for my wisdom teeth removal several years ago.  My mom had a partial knee replacement surgery a couple of weeks ago.  As I watched her recover, I began to think about how recovery would be for people getting cochlear implants.  My mom had to rely on medication to ease the pain and daily therapy to get better.  Slowly she is seeing improvement, but she was told it takes at least six weeks to recover completely.

If you have undergone cochlear implant (or any other type) surgery, share with us how you recovered from it at next Wednesday’s Open Chat Night.  For instance, do you have any suggestions on how to deal with the recovery process?

You can also leave a comment here or discuss Managing Your Recovery in the forum.

Last week a member in our chat asked if anyone had interesting stories about their time in high school or college.  Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot to share since I mostly focused on my studies instead of socializing with others.  However, I did have an interesting encounter with a dorm mate that didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped.

One year, I got to know the student who stayed in the room next to mine.  Although I thought he would be a good friend to hang out with, the relationship took a wrong turn when he became rather clingy and stalkerish.  For instance, every time he heard me come into the dorm suite, he would open his door immediately to greet me.  Sometimes it got to the point where I would quietly sneak into my room and lock the door so he wouldn’t bother me.  The next minute, however, he would come out and knock on my door for several minutes, even if I didn’t answer.  That experience discouraged me from any further attempts to make friends in college.  Looking back now though, I think it’s kind of funny.

Have any interesting stories about your high school or college days?  Tell us at next Wednesday’s Open Chat Night.

You can also leave a comment here or discuss College stories in the forum.

Two years ago, I attended University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee’s annual Deaf Day to promote Walk4Hearing for the local chapter.  I remember how nervous I was around people. Throughout the day, I felt fatigued from the anxiety of approaching people.  That was the first time I’d been surrounded by mostly deaf and hard of hearing people; it was certainly a very new environment.

Last weekend, I had my own booth at this year’s Deaf Day.  This time, I didn’t feel as nervous around people as I did back then.  I felt relaxed and openly talked with newcomers a little more, whether by myself or through an interpreter.  Hannah, a student intern, joined me at the booth and we had a lot of visitors to our booth.  It was great exposure for DeafandHoH, and we’re looking forward to having more people join us.

So, describe your first experience at a deaf/Deaf event, and share with us at Wednesday’s Open Chat Night.

You can also leave a comment here or discuss First Experience at Deaf Day in the forum.

Just about everyone I know has a pet.  Although I’ve never had a pet, I did have a stuffed dog named Henry that I took with me everywhere.  I played with him so much that my mother used to patch him up by sewing “shirts” on him.  He was pretty special to me growing up.  If I ever do get a real puppy, I think I’d probably name him Henry.

Speaking of puppies, a volunteer at Famous Fido (a Chicago-based dog rescue) contacted me to see if anyone in our community would be interested in adopting a dog with hearing loss. That gave me the idea for this week’s topic since we have lots of animal lovers.

So, come talk about Mr. Tibbles or Fluffy at this Wednesday’s Open Chat Night.  Has caring for pets affected the way you approach your hearing loss in any way?  Did you have any particular considerations, such as being able to hear it barking or meowing to be let back inside?  Also, have you ever considered adopting a pet with hearing loss?

You can also leave a comment here or discuss Pets in the forum.

Many of our discussion topics have been related to the obstacles of hearing loss, and I wanted to take a more positive approach this week.  Even though hearing loss does have its downsides, it can be a blessing in many ways. 

For instance, I enjoy being able to sleep peacefully at night without hearing aids.  Those little sounds that might keep hearing people awake don’t bother me.  It’s also helpful in noisy places where verbal communication isn’t necessary, like outdoor festivals or factories with loud machinery—I can just turn down my hearing aids’ volume or switch it “off.”  No need for ear plugs for me!

Whether you’re deaf or hard of hearing, in what way do you consider your hearing loss a blessing?  Let’s discuss this at Wednesday’s Open Chat Night.

You can also leave a comment here or discuss Blessing in Disguise? in the forum.

Beginning April 2012, Deafandhoh.com will be publishing a monthly article on one member each month, starting with the current Miss Deaf America, Rachel Mazique.  We hope these articles will increase exposure for our community by giving members the chance to share their experiences with the rest of the world.

With the member’s permission, we’ll interview him or her and write a brief article based on the interview.  All articles will be sent to that member for final approval before publishing.  If you’d like to nominate a member or have a profile written on you, please feel free to contact us.

Studies have identified a possible link between the food we eat and hearing loss.  Good eating habits have been shown to reduce the chances of hearing loss associated with aging.  I’m interested in whether eating habits can prevent progressive hearing loss across all age groups.

My hearing loss has been consistent since I was born.  Only in recent years have I noticed a slight reduction in my hearing.  Fortunately it’s a very minor change; but what will happen as I grow older?  I’m already nearing forty, and I have to admit my eating habits aren’t good.  I’ve always been skinny with high metabolism, and I find myself consuming more unhealthy foods (like sweets) than healthier ones (like fruits and vegetables).  My father is always forcing me to eat healthier to prevent future health problems—perhaps eating better and taking vitamins could prevent my hearing loss from worsening as well.

Discuss the healthy foods choices you make at Wednesday’s Open Chat Night.  Can you make any nutritional suggestions that are good for your health and might prevent hearing loss?

You can also leave a comment here or discuss Connection between nutrition and hearing loss in the forum.

Many in the deaf and hard of hearing community rely on subtitles and captioning to some degree.  I personally find them quite helpful in situations where I can’t turn up the volume (e.g., it would disturb hearing people in the area).  Sometimes, however, I have difficulty keeping up with the captions.  I tend to focus more on what’s happening in the show, so the captions often disappear before I can catch certain words.  Does anyone else have a similar problem? I’ve also noticed that sometimes the captions’ timing is a little off; they appear before or after the person speaks.  On some of these occasions, I’ve had to rewind or fast-forward to catch up, and that can get annoying.

Tell us about your experience with using subtitles or captions at this Wednesday’s Open Chat Night.  It can be for anything from a TV screen to a movie theater to a church projector—anything.  What are the advantages and drawbacks?  Do you know of any other technology that might be useful?

You can also leave a comment here or discuss Captioning and Subtitles in the forum.

If you accept a limiting belief, then it will become a truth for you. – Louise Hay

There are times when I’m able to completely shut out the busy world because it just seems easier than asking to hang out with friends.  The biggest problem with limiting beliefs is that they force you to live below your potential and perceive things negatively.  Since childhood, I have had a limiting belief about my ability to make friends, which was worsened by rejection.  Among the many answers I’d gotten were “I’m busy,” “I already have plans,” or better yet, a vague promise that never happened.  Of course, by a certain age, most people have established their own circle of friends with whom they feel most comfortable.  So, meeting new people now is going to be a little more challenging, especially for a shy introvert like me.

But, a surprising scenario happened a couple of weeks ago.  Someone from the church group I recently joined invited me to go sledding with her and a group of friends.  I had such a great time with them, though it didn’t seem real because I couldn’t believe that anybody would just come out and ask me to hang out without my making the effort.  I guess that’s a limiting belief which I’ve accepted as truth.  In truth, I’ve made a lot of progress, and if I’m not careful, that limiting belief can put me back to where I started.