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Parent Talk
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MavisMavis is a college student. She uses sign to communicate with hearing friends. On these pages she shares her thoughts about growing up as a young deaf woman. Contact us if you want to get in touch with Mavis or ask her a question. April 16, 2003
Now, as a young adult, I am no longer upset, frustrated, or mad about being unable to communicate by voice. I often socialize with non-signers by paper and pen as if they were my deaf peers. Sometimes I communicated by miming. I often felt like I am a free bird...esteeming myself to anyone by paper and pen as well as if I am signing (or speaking). True, it's hard sometimes, but it's not that hard when I am around people who don't think much of the slowness and labor in writing back to me. It may be because most of the people I hanged around were advance educated ones (and I do prefer to be around those types of people anyway). On the other hand, it may be because I am in the adult world nearly all the time for the last four years. The parents of the today's young hearing impaired children were concerned that their children will get mad at them for either not learning how to speak or not learning how to sign later in life. This did happen both ways (as my hearing impaired peers told me over the years). I remember my mom telling those parents "It's a typical teenage phase. I kept on telling myself that it will be over in a few years." I think she was right. After all, she did raise three teens--the oldest and deaf one and two younger hearing ones. I shall stop here for now. If you have any specific subjects you will like me to talk about, just drop me a line and I will be honored to use this as an excuse to write. Read more about Mavis! |
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 | National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders |
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