I am going to start a new thing for every Monday, in which I will tell an important story about my life. In this first edition, I will tell the story about when I was two years old, and was told I was disabled, and would not be able to attend normal school for my whole life, but was able to overcome it, and be able to graduate from middle school top of my class as Class President, graduate on the National Honor Society and twelve straight trimesters from Kellenberg Memorial High School, and now going to Hofstra University.
I was born right on schedule, right on time, on May 1st, 1997, to two loving parents, and a great big loving family. I was released from the hospital a few days later, and lived what I thought was a normal life for the first two years of my life. I read a lot of books, listened to a lot of music, and played all day long. I had a big heart for my family, and they had the same for me. All of this sudden, this all changed for me and my family on May 1st, 1999.
I went into the doctors office to have my two year old check-up and vaccinations. During the evaluation, my doctor noticed something strange, with my reoccurring ear infections, and started to do more tests, a twenty minute check-up turned into a four hour long investigation. After some tests were done, it was found that I was 75% deaf in my left ear and 80% deaf in my right ear. I was legally deaf and it was getting worse by the day, as more fluid was building up and hardening in my ears. My parents were devastated. They asked the doctor, how I was able to communicate and talk and make perfect sounds and sentences whilst being legally deaf, and the answer proved to my parents how smart I actually was at a young age. I was able to read lips at a very young age, and hear slight sounds, using both to form my mouth to make sounds, words, and sentences, and be able to talk to people.
The doctor originally thought that my parents would have to enroll me in a school for the deaf and that them and I would have to take classes to learn sign language. He gave them referrals to great schools and teachers. They weren't satisfied, and they felt that there must be some way to make me hear at a perfect 100% level. That is when we found Dr. Ward. He practiced out of the city, and we went to see him. I loved the city so that was a calming factor in the whole process. After he said that he could do the procedure, we went in for surgery two weeks later, and on May 21st, 1999, I was able to hear clearly for the first time.
I can clearly remember hearing an airplane for the first time, and being scared out of my mind, because I had never heard this loud roar before. I was now able to hear my parents true voices all the time, and was able to love music without just hearing the bass and beats associated with a song.
I will never be able to thank my parents enough for their support through that tough time for me, even though I really had no clue what was going on. I also can never thank Dr. Ward enough for giving me my sense of hearing. He has said that if they had waited to complain about my plethora of ear infections when I was young, and waited two months to July 1st, then I would have been around 100% deaf in both ears, and there would be nothing he could do to reverse the process.
What disabilities do you have? Were you lucky and blessed like me to overcome them, or were you not able to?
Peace and Love,
DGS
Quotes of the Day: "I am as bad as the worst, but, thank God, I am as good as the best." - Walt Whitman
"If I am what I have and if I lose what I have who then am I?" - Erich Fromm
I was born right on schedule, right on time, on May 1st, 1997, to two loving parents, and a great big loving family. I was released from the hospital a few days later, and lived what I thought was a normal life for the first two years of my life. I read a lot of books, listened to a lot of music, and played all day long. I had a big heart for my family, and they had the same for me. All of this sudden, this all changed for me and my family on May 1st, 1999.
I went into the doctors office to have my two year old check-up and vaccinations. During the evaluation, my doctor noticed something strange, with my reoccurring ear infections, and started to do more tests, a twenty minute check-up turned into a four hour long investigation. After some tests were done, it was found that I was 75% deaf in my left ear and 80% deaf in my right ear. I was legally deaf and it was getting worse by the day, as more fluid was building up and hardening in my ears. My parents were devastated. They asked the doctor, how I was able to communicate and talk and make perfect sounds and sentences whilst being legally deaf, and the answer proved to my parents how smart I actually was at a young age. I was able to read lips at a very young age, and hear slight sounds, using both to form my mouth to make sounds, words, and sentences, and be able to talk to people.
The doctor originally thought that my parents would have to enroll me in a school for the deaf and that them and I would have to take classes to learn sign language. He gave them referrals to great schools and teachers. They weren't satisfied, and they felt that there must be some way to make me hear at a perfect 100% level. That is when we found Dr. Ward. He practiced out of the city, and we went to see him. I loved the city so that was a calming factor in the whole process. After he said that he could do the procedure, we went in for surgery two weeks later, and on May 21st, 1999, I was able to hear clearly for the first time.
I can clearly remember hearing an airplane for the first time, and being scared out of my mind, because I had never heard this loud roar before. I was now able to hear my parents true voices all the time, and was able to love music without just hearing the bass and beats associated with a song.
I will never be able to thank my parents enough for their support through that tough time for me, even though I really had no clue what was going on. I also can never thank Dr. Ward enough for giving me my sense of hearing. He has said that if they had waited to complain about my plethora of ear infections when I was young, and waited two months to July 1st, then I would have been around 100% deaf in both ears, and there would be nothing he could do to reverse the process.
What disabilities do you have? Were you lucky and blessed like me to overcome them, or were you not able to?
Peace and Love,
DGS
Quotes of the Day: "I am as bad as the worst, but, thank God, I am as good as the best." - Walt Whitman
"If I am what I have and if I lose what I have who then am I?" - Erich Fromm