Guest Author - Kelli Deister

Imagine a child that is born into a hearing world. She grows up hearing all of the sounds of nature, machinery, and language; furthermore, she rapidly learns to adjust her life to her hearing abilities. Every sound is immediately met with a reaction. Her facial expressions are then formed, and as she learns to adjust her emotions to various environmental sounds, she begins to experiment with different speech tone levels. Soon, every aspect of her being is centered around her ability to hear.

Now, imagine that child having grown to an adult. She has a full-time job, and her hearing skills have become a vital part of her life. She teaches a classroom full of young children, each with their own ideas, opinions, and needs. She is also a musician, and hearing the different tone levels is vital. Without warning, she becomes very ill, causing a major loss in her hearing. Her entire life is now consumed in chaos. Those sounds that were once familiar to her, are no longer. She cannot wake up to alarm clocks, hear her friends as they knock on her door, hear her students as they call out to her for help with their assignments, or hear the correct tones of the musical instruments.

She no longer fits into the hearing community, being that she cannot adequately hear. Concerts are out, because she can’t hear the music. Group conversations are out, since she cannot distinguish the various levels of speech. She wonders how she will be able to continue working, now that she cannot hear. Everything she once knew, and became accustomed to, no longer exists. She no longer belongs in her own world. She knows no other means of communication, other than speech; consequently, she succumbs to a feeling of isolation and helplessness.

This describes the life of a hearing individual, who suddenly becomes deaf. It is a feeling of being a misfit within society. They feel as though they do not fit in with those that are hearing, being that they no longer have the commonality of the speech and hearing combination. While they understand the culture of those that are hearing, and their lives are founded on those beliefs, they are no longer alike in regards to their ability to hear. They also feel as though they don’t fit in with the Deaf community, being that they don’t know sign language. They have no understanding of the Deaf culture, and have no friends within the Deaf community. They feel somewhat like a misfit, because they are in a position of not belonging in either ‘world.’ This individual is left with no viable means of communication, and no one understands them. It is, undeniably, the worst possible feeling that a late-deafened adult can have. I know, because I have lived this reality for seven years now.

The late-deafened adult struggles to regain some control over their life. They begin to try to rebuild a foundation for communication, or a familiarity within their lives. However, they soon find themselves with a very different reality than the one they have lived for so many years. Facing their new reality can be extremely troubling, distracting, and overwhelming. Life soon becomes a race to piece together the puzzle of communication. This is perhaps one of the stronger complexities of being a late-deafened adult.