In writing this book, my computer has helped to some extent with the grammar and spelling, but I still need help with it. I would say to myself while I was typing, ‘My deafness is not going to hold me back - I can write this book about my life and I am going to do it’.
There are some terrible cases, much worse than mine. Back in 1929, Mattie Hope was institutionalized in the Forest Haven Home for the Retarded for 57 years until it was discovered she was deaf. Hope had not been tested appropriately, and that was the reason for her misdiagnosis.
In another case in 1984, a man in New York was put into a home and he spent almost ten years in homes for the retarded. There was a law suit over his case.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, a boy of 17 who had spent 12 years in a school for the retarded was found to be deaf.
The Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) reported on 30 May 2002 the story of a 48-year-old deaf man who had spent the first 18 years of his life in a home for the retarded after doctors advised his parents to institutionalize him.
Imagine you go to McDonald’s to order breakfast to take it to work. The menu is in English, but the staff can only understand Greek.
Imagine you accidentally fall on some stairs at work and injure your arm. Your colleagues take you to hospital, but the doctor and nurses treating you are speaking in Swahili.
Imagine going to college for the first night of a course to learn art, only to find the teacher can only speak Polish?
Imagine wanting to compliment the chef for an excellent meal in an Italian restaurant, and finding that he doesn’t know a single word of English.
Be honest with yourself. Are you at home right now? Switch on your television and turn off the volume for ten minutes and keep watching…