“After I wrote yesterday’s entry,” says Sarah, in her blog, The 8th Nerve, “I ended up on the bathroom floor in a fetal position. That is the only position we are capable of when a lifetime of pain is finally allowed to pour through the body in a few moments. This is the beginning, after 28 years, of my acceptance of my hearing loss. Acceptance of the fact that I truly have a loss that can never be changed. In retrospect, it is unbelievable to me that I never emotionally processed any of this before.”
I found Sarah’s blog through a comment that she left on mine. She had Googled “Alone In The Mainstream A Deaf Woman Remembers Public School” and found my review of Gina Oliva’s book.
As I read through Sarah’s blog, my heart went out to her as she shared the beginning of her journey of acceptance– after 28 years, she was just now examining her life as a solitaire, a term that Gina Oliva uses to describe those who grew up having little or no contact with others who are deaf and hard of hearing. But an important point to note is that working through the pain paves the way for new explorations on the road to acceptance. Perhaps this will be a turning point for her and a chance to meet others that she can connect with.
Gina’s book also made an impact here: What’s That You Said?