Addy
Castaway
Posts: 62
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Post by Addy on Nov 22, 2006 18:19:44 GMT
An eight-year old Addy lay in a hospital bed, looking around the room groggily. Was she in a hospital?
She moved a hand up to rub her aching head, only to find it wrapped with some sort of medical gauze. She was in a hospital. Addy groaned, looking up at the ceiling. She didn't want to be here. Where were her parents? Why was she alone?
There was something else that just registered with her mind. Why couldn't she hear anything. Addy sat up slightly in bed, wincing in pain as she did so, and looked around. There was a TV in the corner. It was showing some cartoons, but she couldn't hear it. Maybe it was just turned down...
Addy looked around and saw a remote control sitting on a metal tray next to her bed. She reached out her hand, an IV tube sticking out of it, and grabbed it. The girl fumbled with it for a moment before finding the volume button. She pushed the 'up' button to make the TV louder.
There were lines on the bottom of the TV showing how loud the volume was. Addy watched as more little lines were added, but she still couldn't hear anything. Was the stupid TV broken? Why wasn't it working?!
She kept pushing the volume button until it wouldn't go up any more. Addy thought that she could barely hear the TV, but it wasn't enough to really notice what was being said. Her lip trembled as she tossed the remote on the metal tray. It made no sound as it landed. Addy's eyes filled with tears. She wanted her mom and dad. Why weren't they here?
A nurse came into her room, hands over her ears, and said something to Addy. She just saw her lips move. The nurse grabbed the remote control and turned down the TV. She looked at Addy, a sad look in her face. The nurse grabbed a pad of paper and pen that were on the table and wrote something down. She handed it to Addy, who took it with shaking hands.
'Your parents and the doctor will be here in a few minutes. Do you want anything to drink?'
Addy shook her head and put the pad back on the tray. The words on the paper seemed to make it official. Tears streamed down her face as the realization struck her.
She was deaf.
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Addy
Castaway
Posts: 62
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Post by Addy on Nov 25, 2006 1:07:25 GMT
It had been a month since Addy's accident on the playground. She still had nightmares about getting stuck under the wooden 'merry-go-round', all in vivid color and sound. She couldn't remember the incident while awake, but it haunted her dreams. The accident that had taken her ability to hear.
She'd started going to a different school. A school for the deaf. Addy was still getting used to the fact that she couldn't hear things. But she was determined to make the best of it.
She was learning sign language. It was slow-going at first, but she was getting the basics under her belt. Addy had even made a friend at her new school, which boost her confidence greatly.
Addy was sitting on her bed, finger-spelling the items in her bedroom, when her mother came in and sat on the bed, paper and pen in hand. That was the only way they could communicate with each other. Her parents were learning sign language as well, but none of them knew enough to hold conversations just yet.
'Were you going to invite any friends over for your birthday party next week?' her mother wrote, passing her the paper and pen.
Addy took a moment to reply. She scribbled, 'Maybe just Sami'. She and her friend Sami got along wonderfully. Sami taught her new words in sign language and was even helping her with her schoolwork.
Addy's mother nodded. She took the paper and pen and wrote, 'Let me know if you think of anyone else. I need to know how big of a cake to bake.' She gave Addy a smile and a hug, which the girl returned, before leaving the room.
Getting an idea, Addy flopped on her stomach and hung upside-down over the side of her bed. She reached under it and pulled out a thick American Sign Language dictionary. Once she had the monstrous book in her lap, she proceeded to look up certain signs so she could impress Sami.
You... want... to... come... to... my... party... Saturday. Addy practiced these words over and over again, making sure her fingers were in the perfect positions. She wanted to be able to sign the question. She wanted to be able to actually communicate.
That was the need that kept her going. If Addy couldn't actually talk to her family and friends, then she was going to sign to them.
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Addy
Castaway
Posts: 62
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Post by Addy on Nov 29, 2006 1:06:15 GMT
At age eleven, Addy was getting used to being deaf. She was almost fluent in sign language, though she knew that there would always be more to learn.
And that's just what she did in her spare time. Addy would stay after school with her teachers to make her movements more fluid, to learn new signs, anything that could help her in this silent life of hers.
She stayed at the school for the deaf. She didn't really see a point of going to a normal school if she wouldn't be able to interact with anyone. Addy didn't want anyone's pity, but she wanted to be able to talk with people. So she decided that she would stay around people like her where she could be herself and not have to worry about being made fun of.
One day at school, the teacher had a surprise for their science lesson. He had a small cage in the front of the class that held some sort of animal. Through ASL, he explained that it was a brown bat. They were going to learn how bats used sound waves to find their food.
Addy didn't think she'd ever payed so much attention in a science class before. Her eyes were glued to the teachers hands as he signed, explaining about echolocation.
Addy thought that she and the bat were somewhat similar. They both had four senses that worked well, but one of their senses was dull and was almost non-existent. For her, it was her hearing. For the bat, it was sight.
The bat was pretty much blind, but was able to see with its ears. Addy was pretty much deaf, but she could hear with her eyes. They were kindred spirits.
Addy stayed after class to look at the bat. While other students shied away from the strange animal, Addy was drawn to it. It hung upside down by its feet, its membrane wings wrapped around itself. Addy looked at her teacher and hopefully signed Class Pet?
The teacher smiled and shook his head. I borrowed bat, he signed. Take it back home tonight.
Addy gave a small nod to show her understanding. She wished they could keep it. It was so cute! And it was so similar to them all. Maybe she could learn something from bats. They were able to live their whole lives without good eyesight. She would make sure that she could live her whole life without good hearing, just to show how good she was.
Addy said good-bye to her teacher, and to the brown bat, before hurrying off to her next class.
The next day, they were all surprised to find the bat in a cage in the back of a room.
Say hello to new class pet, signed the teacher with a smile.
Addy couldn't stop grinning the whole class period.
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Addy
Castaway
Posts: 62
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Post by Addy on Dec 22, 2006 19:13:16 GMT
Being able to see the brown bat in class every day, Addy started to grow attached to it. They got to feed it crickets and grasshoppers, which was just fun to watch in itself. The bat was cute, in Addy's eyes. There were some of her other classmates who agreed, but most of them were afraid of the alien-looking animal. She just found it fascinating.
After a few months, Addy decided that she wanted a pet of her own. Maybe not a bat (her mother would definitely not agree to that), but perhaps a cat or a dog. Or maybe even something more exotic, like a parrot or an iguana! How amazing would that be?
She told this to her parents, who had mixed reactions.
With a dog, you can't hear it bark if it needs something, explained her mother.
Then I can have something quiet, countered Addy. Her twelfth birthday had just passed and she thought that she was responsible enough to take care of a pet. What about a rabbit, iguana, or a snake? she signed.
Her mother fiercely shook her head. No... she paused, trying to think of the sign she wanted. Not coming up with one, she finger-spelled the word she wanted. No r-e-p-t-i-l-e-s.
Addy should have seen that coming.
Why not a cat? asked her father, trying to help everyone come to a decision.
Cats are boring, signed Addy. She wanted something fun and unique. Everyone had cats.
We'll take you to the pet store and you can find something, okay? Her mother looked at her hopefully, and Addy knew that there would be no way she would be getting a reptile (which was what she was interested in).
She nodded. At least her parents weren't telling her no!
The next day, they all returned home from the pet shop with all kinds of supplies. Addy held a small box in her hand and impatiently waited for her father to set up the cage they had bought for her new pet. Once the cage had been assembled and the bottom had been layered with newspapers and bedding, Addy carefully took her hedgehog out of the box and placed it in its new home.
We're going to be friends, she signed to it with a grin, watching it scurry around. The hedgehog found a nice spot in the corner and after moving the bedding around until it was comfortable, curled up into a spiky ball and fell asleep.
Now Addy was going to be able to prove that she could do things by herself. She didn't need her hearing to take care of a pet. She could survive perfectly well in her silent world.
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Addy
Castaway
Posts: 62
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Post by Addy on Apr 28, 2007 1:57:51 GMT
She pushed the key.
Silence.
She tried another one, pushing it harder.
Silence.
Addy pushed the palm of her hand on the piano keys.
More silence.
Frustrated, Addy dropped her forehead onto the keys, still not hearing a single note. But there was something...
She could feel the vibrations of the piano. Addy sat up and placed a hand on top of the piano while her other hand pressed random keys. She was able to faintly feel the vibrations made from the strings on her hands. It was silent music.
The day before, Addy had come home from school in tears. She had been walking home when a boy her age stopped her to ask a question. She wasn't very good at reading lips and couldn't talk very well, so she signed I'm sorry, I can't help. Of course, the boy didn't know ASL, but he knew what her signs meant. He started yelling at her (or what she could only guess was yelling; she couldn't hear him), poking her in the arms and trying to look at her ears. Addy didn't know what he had been saying, but she knew enough to know that it wasn't nice.
She had been depressed since then. Why did she have to be deaf? What did she do to deserve something like this? She was only twelve, she should be able to hear everything around her! But that boy made her realize how cruel people could be outside of school. How was she ever going to become a real person when she got older if everyone acted the same way that boy did?
Addy was so immersed in her thoughts that she jumped slightly when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned her head to see her father standing there, a bit of a forced smile on his face. He sat on the bench next to her and looked her in the eyes.
Baby cousin is asleep upstairs, he signed.
I'm sorry, replied Addy in sign language. She'd obviously been playing too loudly. She didn't know, of course, but it seemed to bother everyone else. Addy had just wanted to try playing with her aunt's piano. There was a small flicker of hope that maybe she would be able to hear the notes.
But she hadn't.
Do you know of B-e-e-t-h-o-v-e-n? signed her dad, finger-spelling out the name of someone. Addy shook her head in response.
He wrote music. Beautiful music that we still listen to today. And he was deaf. Addy looked up at her father's eyes hopefully. A deaf person had been able to make music? Good music?
Her father gave her a smile. You are deaf. That does not mean you are not able to do whatever you want. You can do anything if you really want to, he told her. But you cannot feel sorry for yourself or think that you cannot do it. Because you can do anything, Addy. Understand?
Addy nodded, smiling at her father. Could she really do anything? Even though she was deaf? Was it really possible? Maybe she could be an astronaut. Or a doctor. She could be whatever she wanted to be.
She wasn't going to let anyone tell her anything different from now on.
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