Trip home...

Hey all,

I went home for the weekend because there was a family BBQ. I tried to get out of it but in the end I was sucked in. See, I hate family gatherings and for many reasons. I am so different from my family in every way that there is no way that I can socialize with them. We just have that few of things in common. I am also the only D/deaf person in my family. A few of my family members know some basic basic basic sign, but nothing beyond the alphabet and counting to 10. Basically I am expected to socialize with people who don't try to adapt themselves to me at all. I am forced into a group of people and made to speech read. Speech reading is hard enough with a small group of 3-4 people. Last night there were well over 10 people here and it was horrible for me. I couldn't follow conversations, I had no idea who was talking when, and I was just lost. On occasion someone would see me looking confused, summarize the conversation and then continue the conversation in the same matter that it was before.

I snuck away right after dinner and went out to a movie with my friend. She is learning ASL and I made her not speak and only sign for well over an hour. It was great. It was hard for her but I think she learned more doing that than she has ever learned before. I told her stories in ASL, and taught her a bunch of new signs. By the end we were making our way through a decent conversation. I was asking her questions and she was responding appropriatly. I was pretty impressed by her really!

That same friend is coming to Toronto at the end of August to help me and my audiologist with some hearing aid adjustments. We are going to see what we can do to make my hearing aids better for me to sing with and understand music. My friend is also a musician so she is going to help and see if I can sing with her. I have already told her that at all times, aside from when we are with my audiologist, she is not allowed to speak. We are only going to sign. I have a feeling she is frantically studying her ASL dictionary as we speak! LOL.

In other news, I think I may be allergic to the new earmolds. I can tolerate them in my ears for less and less time before needing to take them out. I am not taking them out because of the sound, but because I am so conciouse that there is something in my ear. Sometimes my ears get itchy, other times the molds just feel really really tight. I mentioned the tightness to my audiologist in an email and she suggested that it may be an allergic reaction. She told me to use my old molds for the time being but I didn't bring them home with me. I go back tomorrow though and will switch them as soon as I get back! I am only wearing them when I need them right now, like when I am out with hearing people. Speaking of that I am going out with a few friends in 15 minutes so I should probably stop writing and go get ready!

I will update later!

Jenny