A New Journey- Raising My Own
My first and main exposure to the deaf and hard of hearing community was with my older
brother. For as long as I can remember he always had playdough in his ears and he couldn’t hear
without them. It wasn’t until I was much older that I found myself immersed into the Deaf/Hard
of Hearing community.
In August of 2015 I was officially identified as being hard of hearing and advised to pursue
hearing aids. Before being identified I knew my hearing wasn’t great but once I put on my
hearing aids I became fully aware of what I was missing. It was overwhelming and took some
getting used to. At the time and for the next few years unless you were a close friend or family,
you didn’t know I was hard of hearing and wore hearing aids. It was not because I was ashamed,
it was simply because I didn’t see myself as someone who was hard of hearing. That all began to
change when my oldest was identified as being hard of hearing at the age of three.
When my son was born I knew right away that there could be a chance that he could have some
hearing loss. My hearing loss is hereditary. My mom and 3 of my siblings have what is called
BOR which stands for Branchiootorenal Syndrome. The main thing it affects is our hearing.
There are distinct pits on our ears and neck that are the main sign of BOR. Each of my kids have
a 50% chance of having it. My son had three of them when he was born. One on each ear and
one on his neck. When he was 3 years old we took him to see an ENT as I wanted one of the pits
on his ear closed. She gave him the official diagnosis of BOR and kindly recommended we test
his hearing. It was that day we found out that he was hard of hearing in his left ear. When he was
3.5 he received his first hearing aid. It was then that I started to become more open about my
own hearing loss and the fact that I wear hearing aids. I wanted my son to see me as a role
model for the positive impact that hearing aids can have.
In 2021 I gave birth to my third child, a girl. She had BOR too. When they did the routine
newborn hearing screening, she failed in both ears. That was the day information started to pour
in about what the next steps were and who I needed to call. 6 weeks later she had her first ABR.
It was then that she was identified with a mild hearing loss in her right ear. 4 weeks after that
appointment she received her first hearing aid. It was after that appointment that my immersion
into the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community began.
Within a few days of the appointment I had a couple of different people reach out to me.
Honestly I couldn’t tell who was who and or what they were for. The first meeting I attended I
was just there for the ride. I was dealing with my second child having a hearing loss and I was
postpartum. I don’t recall much of the meeting but I know that I had agreed to have someone
come to my house once a month. When she arrived she introduced me to a community that I
knew existed but didn’t really know existed. Within a few months I started taking ASL online
and eventually got the courage to attend an event at the library. As I started to attend more events
I have found the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community to be welcoming and encouraging. I have
been able to form friendships with some amazing people who I wouldn’t have met otherwise.
While the journey is not one that I would have chosen for myself, it is a journey that I have come
to enjoy.
Recent Comments