You’re
walking down the sidewalk. There is
hardly anyone else there and you’re in your own little world. All of a sudden, a boy comes from behind and walks besides you. He's obviously talking to you and smiling. Surprised, you panic. You have no idea what he just said or what the correct response should be. Still stunned, you nod your head,
smile, and say “hmm-hmm.” He is
satisfied with this answer and walks on.
You breathe a sigh of relief, you survived this encounter. Your reply was apparently appropriate.
It’s physics time! You’re working hard to complete number 35 in your book after finishing an equally hard number 33.
Someone across the aisle whispers something unintelligible to you. You blank out and stutter the words, “I
don’t know.” The person looks
disappointed. You feel bad for not
hearing the question and not knowing the answer. You feel like you let your classmate down.
Another
time, you're working at your desk, where you’re engrossed in annotating a scientific article. You don’t hear the footsteps,
or the loud knock on the door, or your name being called. You finally hear something mumbled
behind your back, and turn around. Someone is offering you food on a large tray. Since you have no idea what’s being offered
and you’re completely confused, you
automatically say “No thank you.” “OK,”
says the other person and leaves. "Oh darn!," as you smack yourself on the head. "Cheesecake!"
Have you
noticed a common denominator amongst all these scenarios? You didn't speak up. This problem,
this shyness, is not unique to someone who can’t hear; it happens to
everyone occasionally. For example, the sidewalk
scenario involves someone who’s head is in the clouds, potentially thinking about
making a snowman, solving a bug in a computer code, or wondering what's for dinner.
There’s
nothing to be ashamed of when asking someone to repeat what you didn’t
hear the first time, or the second time, or the third time (although, maybe after this
much repetition you should get out a notebook and pencil). There is no reason not to speak up and say, “I’m
sorry. What was that?” If you need to, you can explain about
being deaf, lip-reading, and so on.
Perhaps you
lack confidence in yourself. I'm here to tell you, you can do it! Read the book The Little Engine That Could, by Watty
Piper. Repeat to yourself, “I think I
can. I think I can,” until it becomes your mantra. The Little Engine is a
wonderful role model. Or do what I do, give yourself little pep talks, “All right, I want to do this, I can do this, so I’m going to do this.”
OK. Let’s try this again.
You’re walking down the sidewalk. There is hardly anyone else there and you’re in your own little world. All of a sudden, a boy comes from behind and walks besides you. He's obviously talking to you and smiling. Surprised, you panic. You have no idea what he just said or what the correct response should be. You take a deep breath, “I’m
sorry. What was that?” “Beautiful weather, isn’t it?” “Yes, but it's supposed to snow later today, so
bundle up!” “Thank you!”
It’s physics time! You’re working hard to complete number 35 in your book after finishing an equally hard number 33. Someone across the aisle whispers something unintelligible to you. You lean forward to
hear better, “I’m sorry. Would you repeat
that?” “Do you know how to do problem
33?” “Sure, go to equation, um, 12.4 in
the book and use that to find the velocity and then the radius.” “Great, thanks!” Or, “Do you know how to do
problem 35?” “No, but we can work
through it together.” Now you have a
study buddy!
Another time, you are working at your desk, where you’re engrossed in annotating a scientific article. You don’t hear the footsteps, or the loud knock on the door, or your name being called. You finally hear something mumbled behind your back, and turn around. Someone is offering you food on a large tray. Since you have no idea what’s being offered,
you say, “I’m sorry. What did you say?” “Do you want some cheesecake?” “Sure, I love cheesecake!” What a delicious ending!
