P

[Guest guest]

Hi , You're not #2 in MY book!!

I'm sorry things worked out that way. In the same situation, I would

explain to the folks in my " group " that you have a hearing problem, and

can only understand one person at a time, especially in a noisy

situation. So PLEASE only one person talk at a time. If they ignored

that, the do the " look " and say, " What part of ONE PERSON AT A TIME don't

you understand.? I am trying to get something out of this meeting and

all I am getting is a headache! " I start with nice, then I move on to

firm and demanding. Some folks call me the correct term for a female

dog. But they say it as though it was a bad thing to be!

You might try something that the American Indians used to use. It's

called a " Talking stick " and this is how it works. You bring a stick,

decorated with feathers or ears or whatever suits your fancy, and you

say, " This is the talking stick. The person who has it, has the

privilege of talking. The ones who don't have it have the privilege of

listening. So only ONE person at a time talks. And if YOU want to

speak, raise your hand and we pass the stick to you. " Amazing how it

works. And I would insist that it be used. Because you ordinarily only

have to repremand an adult a few times for them to understand.

Where was the microphone for the loop? Who is a dimwit who didn't

bother to make sure it was available. HELLO.

Worse comes to worse, you can always swear at them. Call them

" Fricative Dipthongs " and see the look on their faces. My 2 favorite

audiological terms. (One means 2 consonants together like sh, ch, etc,

and the other means 2 vowels together like ei, ae, etc. )

Ms. Concern and Compassion should have been told that the implant works

just FINE, it's the people around you who are failing to help you. You

have, after all, replaced, 3,000 hearing cells with 22 electrodes, so a

little consideration is required. It is common courtesy that only one

person speak at a time, and YOU should not have to be the one to tell a

group of ADULTS how to behave.

So, try the talking stick, and if folks don't use it the correct way,

beat them with it. Make them stand in the corner. If they are not going

to be acting like adults, then treat them like children.

YOU need to make your needs known. You changed position to better

hear, you expected the things they told you were there. About the only

thing left to be is be more assertive. Dare I say, Agressive. You drove

50 minutes to get there and you are as entitled to understand what is

going on as the next person.

For what it's worth, I scored the WORST SAT math score in the history

of my school. English grade was like 740 (on a scale of 200-800) but the

Math was 225. Bear in mind, they give you 200 for putting your name on

the test. Give you a clue as to how well I did. They tell you if you

don't know the answer, to guess. So I'm not only clueless, but my

guessing sucked as well. Despite that, I went on to finish college with

honors, and did post graduate work with a 4. average. So SATs don't test

what you know, they test how well you take tests. Needless to say, I was

NOT a math major!!

STAND up and BE HEARD!!

The Original

From: " P " <RUPraying@...>

Subject: Try living in my shoes just one day!

Ever wanted to tell someone with typical hearing that?

I just went to one of the worst meetings I've ever been to in my

life! There I was amongst my peers (except they all have typical

hearing),in a meeting about prepping the kids for the SAT's.

Now I came with my pocket talker, plus the room is looped! I also

have mastered my BEAM programs, and ADRO too! I went in confident

and left crying so hard I could barely drive home. And I wasn't

crying because I was sad! I was crying because I was mad!

I advocate for myself a great deal and do so with a smile. Tonight

I did so with a stern rebuke, and a pretty mean look. I can give a

mean one too, just ask my teens!

We broke into two groups, because some of us deal with those

preparing for their first SAT's, while the others are prepping for

PSAT. The microphone for the loop is " missing " . The meeting begins

and everyone is talking at the same time. I have everything

turned on. Even my brain. Fresh batteries, best light, asked to

switch seats with someone for a better place to see everyone, etc. I

had the hardest time getting just one voice, when the group 30 feet

away were all talking and laughing too. I asked a question and 4 or

5 women answered, at the SAME TIME. I had finally had it and put up

one finger (no, not that ONE y'all)and said very loudly " 1 person

ONLY PLEASE! " Now I know I said it loudly, because the other huddle

across the auditorium turned to look at us. So then one person did

answer, and I wrote the information down. The meeting continued

with people interrupting each other, and I'd glare at them and it

would jump start their brains long enough to do better for a few

minutes. After about 35 minutes I removed my implant, removed my

hearing aid and sat. Fuming. Everything in plain sight. After

all, I was sending a message. You are making it impossible for me

to hear, therefore I don't care to hear any of you.

Now everyone got rather quiet. At least I didn't see any mouths

moving. The director finally nodded to me because I'm a coordinator

for an event and was to give my 7-8 minute breakdown of what to do.

I ignored her. I knew I wouldn't get chewed out, because I had it

all written down on the agenda too. The meeting was over in 10

minutes.

One lady came up to me afterwards all concern and " compassion " and

said, " Are you going to have to get another operation? Did your CI

quit working? " Because I was unable to say what I wanted to, I

turned and walked away without answering.

It's a good thing I live 50 minutes from my meeting. I had that

much time to simmer down. Typical hearing professionals can be

really stupid sometimes. We all can, for that matter, but I haven't

been to a meeting that poorly planned EVER.

Ok, so now I come to my peers again. Only this time it's the ones

that matter. For most of you are late-deafened and do not hear with

just the ears you were born with either. So what did I do wrong,

and what should I do next time?

#2

Frederick, MD