From My View- Reece Benton
9 years old
Most people think that being deaf is hard. I don' t. It's pretty easy. I mean, it can be frustrating at times, but I do fine. I can read, but I can't talk very well, although my dad says that I say my name really good. I don't know.
My mom wants me to learn to lip read. I went to one lesson, and decided against it. It's practically impossible. All the words look the same. I think I'll stick to signing. Maybe I'll try learning to talk, but for right now, I'll stick to what I'm doing.
I've been deaf since I was born. My dad found out when the people in the day care center at the hospital where he works noticed that I seemed "unresponsive." They thought that he should get my hearing checked. My dad didn't think that I needed it, but he got it checked any way. Sure enough, I was deaf. My parent decided to get me into signing lessons and get me a hearing aid, which helps just a little. Now I can hear really loud noises.
My dad said that for the first few months that I had the hearing aid, he and my mom had to keep a constant watch on me because I kept taking it off. Once, when I was little, I threw it into the toilet, and my dad had to call the city sewage place to get it back.
I feel kinda bad because my mom hates my dad's girlfriend, Cleo because of me. One day, my mom was hurt and in the hospital for a while, and Cleo took me home. When she turned around for a minute, I managed to get my fingers slammed in her piano. My mom hates her for that, even though all I had was a little scratch on my hand. My dad says my mom hates Cleo because of something else. He won't tell me though, which means it's probably me.
I love both my parents, but my mom is so afraid that I'm going to accidentally kill myself because I'm deaf. Thank God I can almost take a bath alone. She doesn't come In there with me, but she has a monitor in there, so she can hear if I do any thing. I'm deaf, not legless. My dad does watch out for me, but I can pretty much do whatever when I'm in the house. If I go outside, though, someone has to be with me. My dad doesn't really care what I do inside though.
Cleo doesn't either. She says she does tend to keep a closer eye on me than she did before, but to me, she doesn't really mind if I go off by myself in her house, which is usually where I end up staying when I'm with my dad.
Okay, I guess I need to explain why my dad has a girlfriend, and isn't married to my mom. My dad and my mom were never married. They were close though. Then they had a fight and broke up, sometime before I was born.
Both my parents eventually started dating again, and my mom actually eloped with some guy named Rodger who left her and "ran off with a slut to Germany," That's what my mom says. She's still legally married to him. She never bothered to get a divorce. Kind of messed up, I know.
Once when Cleo and dad were going on a "grownup vacation" and Jackie and her family were gone, I stayed with one of my dad's friends. She was a really nice lady called Elizabeth. She said that she and my dad were pretty good friends. She always looked a little nervous when she said that. I think it's because she's also my dad's boss.
My mom wasn't very happy when she found out that I had stayed overnight at Elizabeth's house. She said something about dating out of her race. I don't know what that means. Yes, I did hear her say that. I can hear really, really, loud noises. My mom was yelling at my dad when she said that. I'm not completely deaf. Just partially.
So, that's what it's like to be a deaf kid that has two parents that never were married. One day, maybe I'll get at least one set of married parents. instead of none.
9 years old
Most people think that being deaf is hard. I don' t. It's pretty easy. I mean, it can be frustrating at times, but I do fine. I can read, but I can't talk very well, although my dad says that I say my name really good. I don't know.
My mom wants me to learn to lip read. I went to one lesson, and decided against it. It's practically impossible. All the words look the same. I think I'll stick to signing. Maybe I'll try learning to talk, but for right now, I'll stick to what I'm doing.
I've been deaf since I was born. My dad found out when the people in the day care center at the hospital where he works noticed that I seemed "unresponsive." They thought that he should get my hearing checked. My dad didn't think that I needed it, but he got it checked any way. Sure enough, I was deaf. My parent decided to get me into signing lessons and get me a hearing aid, which helps just a little. Now I can hear really loud noises.
My dad said that for the first few months that I had the hearing aid, he and my mom had to keep a constant watch on me because I kept taking it off. Once, when I was little, I threw it into the toilet, and my dad had to call the city sewage place to get it back.
I feel kinda bad because my mom hates my dad's girlfriend, Cleo because of me. One day, my mom was hurt and in the hospital for a while, and Cleo took me home. When she turned around for a minute, I managed to get my fingers slammed in her piano. My mom hates her for that, even though all I had was a little scratch on my hand. My dad says my mom hates Cleo because of something else. He won't tell me though, which means it's probably me.
I love both my parents, but my mom is so afraid that I'm going to accidentally kill myself because I'm deaf. Thank God I can almost take a bath alone. She doesn't come In there with me, but she has a monitor in there, so she can hear if I do any thing. I'm deaf, not legless. My dad does watch out for me, but I can pretty much do whatever when I'm in the house. If I go outside, though, someone has to be with me. My dad doesn't really care what I do inside though.
Cleo doesn't either. She says she does tend to keep a closer eye on me than she did before, but to me, she doesn't really mind if I go off by myself in her house, which is usually where I end up staying when I'm with my dad.
Okay, I guess I need to explain why my dad has a girlfriend, and isn't married to my mom. My dad and my mom were never married. They were close though. Then they had a fight and broke up, sometime before I was born.
Both my parents eventually started dating again, and my mom actually eloped with some guy named Rodger who left her and "ran off with a slut to Germany," That's what my mom says. She's still legally married to him. She never bothered to get a divorce. Kind of messed up, I know.
Once when Cleo and dad were going on a "grownup vacation" and Jackie and her family were gone, I stayed with one of my dad's friends. She was a really nice lady called Elizabeth. She said that she and my dad were pretty good friends. She always looked a little nervous when she said that. I think it's because she's also my dad's boss.
My mom wasn't very happy when she found out that I had stayed overnight at Elizabeth's house. She said something about dating out of her race. I don't know what that means. Yes, I did hear her say that. I can hear really, really, loud noises. My mom was yelling at my dad when she said that. I'm not completely deaf. Just partially.
So, that's what it's like to be a deaf kid that has two parents that never were married. One day, maybe I'll get at least one set of married parents. instead of none.