I took some classes in sign language when I was in my early teens because I was told that I would be completely deaf very early. But I never really wanted to learn.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Growing up, I was always involved in the deaf community.
Right after college, I was trying to figure out what to do. Teach? Act? Model? Do PR for the deaf community? And now I'm doing all I dreamed of and more.
I'm a first-time father, and it was amazing to me to learn that my son could actually use sign language before the spoken word. I could see this intelligence in his eyes before he could speak: how he could understand what was going on around him and was frustrated by that.
I learned to speak first, and then to sign. I have never really known what it was like to hear, so I can't compare hearing aids to normal hearing.
One of the reasons I wanted to teach deaf children was because it made me very sad that they spoke so clumsily and that they moved with less grace that I knew was possible of deaf people.
I am fourth-generation deaf, which means everyone in my immediate family is deaf. So I grew up always having 100 percent accessibility to language and communication, which was wonderful and something so many deaf people don't have.
I learned American Sign Language in college and seemed to pick it up rather quickly. I really love to sign and wish that I had more friends to sign with.
After becoming deaf, I realized that I'd better get an education if I was ever to do anything with my life.
When I learned to sign and speak at the same time, the whole world opened up to me. That's the beauty of encouraging kids who are deaf to use whatever it takes to communicate.
When I was young I knew I was deaf. I couldn't accept it.