The key is to introduce myself as usual and let people get to know my personality first. If I miss something during the conversation, I simply let them know: “Hey, I have hearing loss, do you mind saying that again?”
The ADA Has Teeth: Your Complaint Will Be Heard
A review of recent Department of Justice resolutions shows a clear trend: Communication access failures now outnumber physical accessibility complaints.
Hearing Loss Doesn’t Define Me
I don’t always think my teammates understand that I have hearing loss. It’s because hearing loss is invisible. But I live with it every moment.
A Poem About Living With Hearing Loss Since Birth
Partial silence/Hours in thought and talk/My dog listened and understood/Time in hours on the old back porch/I was in my own safe, social world.
Just Part of Who I Am
My advice for anyone starting this journey is to make sure that you know your limits so you don’t get into a situation that you can’t handle. Plus, make sure the people you’re interacting with know what you’re going through so they can help.
5 Things Hearing Care Providers Wish You Knew
Over the years, I had a lot of conversations with patients sitting across from me—sometimes at a desk, sometimes just chatting while they waited. And no matter who they were, many of them were feeling the same things: frustrated, unsure, and sometimes a little overwhelmed.
Understanding Being Misunderstood
For this mom, late in life diagnoses turned years of confusion into a clearer sense of self and deeper connections.
‘Why Can’t They?’
This path in parenting the hard of hearing—let’s face it—can be exhausting. If you walked alone, and because this disability is so often invisible, your village might not be on your front porch. You have to go hunting for it.
Exposure, Empathy, and the Power of Story
For Deaf and hard of hearing children, books and stories are vital spaces where they can see themselves, feel understood, find community and belonging, and lay the foundation for confidence and identity development that will set them up for success throughout their lives.
Representation Matters: Why I Write for the Next Generation
As the first known Black author to publish a 10-book children’s series centered on deaf, hard of hearing, and disabled heroes, I’ve created what I once longed for: stories where children see themselves as powerful.