You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him. ~Leo Aikma

Over the years, I’ve struggled to build my self-confidence, and though I’ve made a lot of improvements, I still have some inhibitions to overcome.  Nevertheless, my father told me last night that I am a lot better compared to last year, especially by helping people, being more outgoing, and taking risks.

There are still times when I perceive everyone negatively (albeit unintentionally), including my close friends.  Because I never had a lot of friends and resented others for not making time for me, I began to perceive the world as a lonely, unfriendly place, and I came to adopt a victim mentality.  But I can’t keep doing that; people will sense it and pull away.

I have to keep in mind the wise words of my friend, Lisa McTavish, who is leaving my work to take a new job.  She told me to keep smiling, have confidence, and I’ll win the respect of others.  Thank you, Lisa, for helping me take back that confidence over the months.  I’ve been blessed to know you.

“Switched at Birth,” the new TV show about a deaf girl and a hearing girl who were—as the name suggests—switched at birth, started its second season this month.

Last season, I didn’t watch any episodes of “Switched of Birth.”  This month, however, I upgraded my cable, so now I get the ABC Family channel.  I recorded all of the past episodes so that I could catch up on the series before watching the new episodes.  I have to say that the first episode really inspired me.  Not only did it promote more awarness of Deaf cuture and sign language, but it also showcased family values in the lives of the deaf and hearing.  If anyone doesn’t have access to the ABC Family channel or missed the earlier episodes, they can watch all the episodes online at http://www.hulu.com/switched-at-birth.  We really don’t see that many shows or movies that potray the lives of the deaf and hard of hearing in their own right; I definitely encourage everyone to check it out.

For those of you who have watched the show, please share your thoughts at the next Wednesday Night’s Open Chat Night. 

You can also leave a comment here or discuss Your Thoughts on ABC Family’s “Switched At Birth” in the forum.

Hello, everyone. I (Hannah) am filling in again for this week’s topic, which will focus on living with roommates with a hearing loss.

I just spent four months studying abroad in Beijing. Before the semester began, I had opted to stay in an off-campus apartment with one Chinese teacher and three other students.  Of course, my roommates were all hearing.  That situation presented some interesting challenges, especially since it was my first time living away from home, where everyone was familiar with my hearing loss and knew how to work around it.  Before arriving into Beijing, I wondered about the communication issues I might encounter.  For example, would my roommates be familiar with sign language at all?  Would they be OK with writing things down or repeating themselves?  Would I be able to understand the Chinese teacher’s accent?   Should I warn them about the weird noises that my apparently-demon-possessed Sonic Alert alarm makes?

I remember that one night during the first week, I was working on my laptop in my bed.  After my roommate turned off the lights, I put my blanket over my head so the light from my laptop wouldn’t keep her up, but to no avail: she asked me to move to the living room.  The next morning, she explained to me that the light wasn’t the problem—she could still hear my keyboard clicking as I typed.  That was something I hadn’t even thought about just because it’s never been an issue for me.  Fortunately, my roommates were very understanding, so whatever communication issues we had were resolved fairly quickly.

I would imagine that this is a fairly common scenario for deaf and hard of hearing people, especially college students or young adults just starting out on their own.  So, this Wednesday, please feel free to share your stories and tips on sharing a living space with others when you have a hearing loss.  Conversely, if you’re hearing and have had a roommate with hearing loss, your input would be welcome as well.  We look forward to seeing you at this Wednesday’s Open Chat Night!

“Each morning when I open my eyes I say to myself: I, not events, have the power to make me happy or unhappy today. I can choose which it shall be. Yesterday is dead, tomorrow hasn’t arrived yet. I have just one day, today, and I’m going to be happy in it.” – Groucho Marx

My friend from Texas came here to visit his sister.  On New Year’s Eve, another close friend invited all of us to their house for lunch.  My parents and I had a great time.  During the night though, I didn’t have any friends to hang out with; everyone had their own plans.  I decided to go home after staying with my parents for a while.

Sitting at home, I started to feel lonely.  I thought of people spending time with their loved ones– in particular, my nephew and niece, who were most likely hanging out with my sister’s friends.  They were planning on heading out to a Packer game the next morning.  I started feeling sad about not having a girlfriend– for yet another year– as the clock ticked closer to midnight.

In that moment, I was once again haunted by the thought that perhaps there really was no place for me in this world.  But, I reminded myself that I have a lot of good things going on in my life.  Truthfully, I’ve made a lot of progress since last year.  I have a loving family; I’ve made new friends from work and a church group I recently joined; and more people have joined DeafandHoH.com and our weekly Open Chat Night.  So, I am not alone in this world.  I just have to keep in mind that no matter what situation arises in my life, I have the power to make myself happy.  It’s all up to me.  So, I’m going to just enjoy today and hope for tomorrow.

Describe your experiences on using Bluetooth technology with your hearing aids.

I’ve been wearing the Phonak Ambra hearing aids for a while and I’m liking it so far, so I plan to purchase them after my trial period is over.  I recently enabled Bluetooth for my hearing aids; the equipment includes a remote, charger, and microphone.  I haven’t used it much yet, but the technology sounds pretty amazing.  For instance, the volume control on the wireless remote has helped a great deal with hearing people from a distance or amplifying soft voices.

I’ve also heard that Bluetooth also provides the ablity to talk on the phone using your hearing aids as the receiver and to listen directly to the TV.  I’ll be trying these features in the next week or so.  Isn’t technology amazing?  I hope it’ll continue to improve in the upcoming years.

I‘d be very interested in hearing your feedback on using Bluetooth at this Wednesday’s Open Chat Night.  Have you ever used Bluetooth with your listening device before, and how does it affect you?

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

I’ve always dreamed about having a book published, sharing my story with the world.  It started to happen this year when I was featured on the cover of Hearing Loss Magazine’s November/December issue.  With 40,000 subscribers, I had tremendous expectations that many people would respond in some fashion and maybe even join my hearing loss community.  I did receive a handful of comments, but overall I was disappointed at the less-than-stellar response.

I once again fell into the pattern of low self esteem and zero confidence, almost to the point of giving up on even trying to reach my goals and dreams.  I want to meet someone, become more social and have lots of friends, and become famous by bringing millions of people to my community that I have worked tirelessly to establish.

Then it dawned on me.  How could I give up?  How could I throw away all that hard work?  What about the people who love being part of the community?  Being featured on the cover of a magazine is a big deal and I’m one out of millions of people with hearing loss to get this opportunity.  Heck, I’m one of  millions period.  What more could I possibly ask for?  I am proud of myself, and proud to be part of the push to get others involved and get the word out.

How easy it was to fall back to my old ways and thought patterns.

If I want to reach my dreams and goals, I need to continue forward and not let roadblocks and the past interfere with me.  I need to see all the good right in front of my face.

I must remember that dreams can only happen if I believe they can, and believe in myself.

Happy New Year!

“Have great hopes and dare to go all out for them. Have great dreams and dare to live them. Have tremendous expectations and believe in them.” – Norman Vincent Peale

For the remainder of this year, all past blog topics will be open for discussion during Wednesday night’s Open Chat Nights.  If you missed any, I encourage you to stop by and get involved with the group.  I anticipate new topics starting in the first week of January, 2012.  If you have ideas for future topics, please post a comment here and I will definitely consider your request.

With such positive results from Open Chat Night, I still have high aspirations for our Hearing Loss Forum, and I encourage all of you to share your thoughts and experiences through that medium as well.  The Forum is a good place to go if you can’t make Open Chat Nights or have more to say—as similar topics are posted for discussion in the Forum.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in Open Chat Night and the forums.  Let’s keep it going!

Happy Holidays!

A friend of mine shared a website where I can read inspirational quotes each day, something to help me keep a daily positive attitude.  I thought it would be a great idea to share these quotes on my blog and write about how it affected my personal experiences.  I hope my readers will take a moment to share their experiences as well.  We can all learn from each other and enjoy life each day.

“We are all here for some special reason.  Stop being a prisoner of your past.  Become the architect of your future” – Robin Sharma

I think this is a great quote because it relates to my own life experiences.  Whenever I dwell on the past, I have been unable to succeed in life.  In the recent years, I have started opening up to people about my past living in a world of social isolation, loneliness and feeling rejected by others.  Perhaps the reason I am here is to reach out to others with similar struggles and it’s the best medicine to help me overcome it.  My dream is to share my story to the world and I should have brighter future doing that.  No matter what road blocks I face, I will work hard to achieve this goal.

Do you feel your area’s schools have adequate programs for deaf children?  Vote on our DeafandHoH poll and share your thoughts on Wednesday night.

DeafandHoH.com has recently completed the school directory listings for all states.  Surprisingly, we found only a few public and private schools per state offering programs for deaf children.  I can imagine that if parents wanted to ensure proper education for their deaf and hard of hearing children, they would have to move to a certain location.

When my parents discovered my hearing loss at age three, they were lucky to find a school that had an educational program for kids with hearing loss.  Although it was outside of our school district, the program provided a school bus that came directly to each student’s home to pick us up.  That was only for early childhood, though, and after third grade, I was integrated into mainstream classes with hearing students.  Otherwise, my family would have had to move closer to a school that offered a program for deaf students– possibly the Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delevan, Wisconsin, which was one hour from our hometown.

There is an estimated 36 million people with hearing loss in the U.S. alone.  What kind of education did you receive growing up?  Was it geared toward deaf and hard of hearing children, hearing children, or a mixture of both?  How did it impact your life? Share with us at this week’s Wednesday Night’s Open Chat Night.

You can also leave a comment here or discuss Deaf Educational Programs in the forum.

I am thrilled to announce that I will be on the cover feature of Hearing Loss Magazine’s November/December 2011.

I’ve always felt like an outsider due to my hearing loss.  So, one day in 2008, I decided to use my skills as a web designer to start a website where people with hearing loss could come together and form a community into which they fit.  A few months later, Cindy Dyer, who works as a photographer and designer for the Hearing Loss Magazine, found my blog and contacted me.  We’ve stayed in touch since, and last spring, she decided to feature my story on the cover of the November/December 2011 issue.  I flew to Washington D.C. this September and met Cindy in person for the photo shoot.  She and her husband were kind enough to show me around the D.C. area and graciously offered me a place to stay over the weekend.

Thanks to Cindy and the Hearing Loss Magazine, my dream of sharing my story with the world is finally coming true.  I hope my story will be an inspiration for people to pursue their dreams, regardless of whatever limitations they may have.  As Henry David Thoreau once said: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.”

Read my story by downloading the PDF version.