As far as I can remember, I always signed to express myself.
Although, I grew up hearing, the “Deaf World” was a major part of my life. It’s
most certainly made me the person I am today. And, of course, being the eldest,
I also adopted the position of interpreter. So, here I am today doing what I’ve
done my whole life, communicating in my first language and having a crazy brain
that is obsessed with sporadic thoughts and figuring out how to say what I sign
and sign what was said. There you go… my life as plain as day.
When I was an infant and I used to sleep with my parents.
How could they hear me if I cry . As my parents say they used to lay me like I
heading towards my mom and legs towards my dad. And for obvious if I’ll cry I’ll
move my hands and legs which will touch them and make them awake. And so they
do what was needful to me.
When I needed to get my parent’s attention from the
bathroom, I’d have to stomp or bang on the door with some force, or grabbed a
bright piece of paper and swished it back-and-forth under the door. Other fun
methods included flipping the light switch on-and-off to get their attention,
wave my hand at them, or tapping them on their shoulders. Sometimes, my mom
would jump as I tapped her if she thought she had been alone.
One of my challenges for sure was when I was in relationships
and friendships, many people noticed that my communication skills weren’t so
great. So, I tend to misunderstand others often and probably vice versa. It
could also be that I’m pretty introverted in general when I’m not working. For
me, I constantly battle between speaking up when I should and saying way more
than I needed to.
I find that I feel fulfilled interpreting for the deaf and
hard-of-hearing community mainly because it feels like home. It’s something
I’ve always come back to.
Now I’m the voice of my loving parents and the deaf all
around me. I feel like they are my family working together to live and survive in
this society.
I feel lucky to be brought up by my parents and giving me
different place in the world and in the eyes of the society. And I salute them
to bring me up in the best and healthy way.
THANKS PAPA AND MUMMY...
