Ahh silence! What a beauuuuuutiful thing!
On a normal Sunday morning in the Iskander household, you would think that the Guinness World Book of Record is holding an audition for the loudest voice! But luckily, today I have chosen to wear the earplugs for an assignment for Deaf Awareness for Fi and Steve, my tour guides and mentor to the Deaf World. So for today, I don't have to deal with or hear the loud sounds! YES!
When I think of silence I often associate it with peace and tranquillity and often see the colour white. Don't ask how or why? So really these earplugs today are a blessing!
As I was having breakfast with the family, I found the situation very amusing, they were so wrapped up in a discussion, which from the body language was about my sister, Dee. The amusing thing was, it was like watching a colourful silent movie!
I had forgotten to tell my family about the earplugs and so I continued to eat my Kellogg's K cereal. All I heard was the crunches of my cereal, which sounded something, like a monster growling or war going on in my head. Or you might think it is just the sound of my cereal.
This may sound boring to some people, because all I do on Sundays is do my homework and then go jogging. I couldn't really see how the earplugs would affect me today.
As soon as I had written the above line, the phone rang and it was my dad. I remembered that I didn't tell him I couldn't hear, so I had to take the earplugs out.
I returned to my studying and as I was going up the stairs, I could hear the pounding of my feet against the carpeted floor and when I coughed, sniffed, breathed and burped (the lady way! Of COURSE!).
I felt my phone vibrating and I sighed with relief when I saw a message.
I had only been wearing the earplugs for a while and I haven't experienced any tranquillity or peace, but this constant deep humming. Excuse the pun, but it felt like I have been wearing them for a lifetime. Dee being the daft idiot that she is, couldn't understand why I had to do this assignment, she kept telling me how can I be deaf when I can talk.
I told her that if she didn't cover her mouth then I might catch what she was saying, but deliberately kept covering her mouth. We started shouting at each other and she must have cursed me and stormed out of my room. I couldn't blame her, it was only for a day and I was already sick of them, but she should have been more understanding. She asked me "how do you get a deaf persons' attention?" and I foolishly replied with "either you gently tap them on the shoulder or flash a light at them." She got a powerful torch and started flashing it in my face! Blinding me for a few seconds! And shaking me at the same time!
I started to think about what life must be like for children, who are born deaf? Not a clue to what their voice sounds like or their mother's or father's or the rest of the family's. I remembered when I was a kid, when I needed to hear the kind and gentle words I would always run to my mother, hearing her voice always meant that I was safe. For those Deaf children or Children of Deaf Adults, who is there to comfort them when they have had a nightmare or been bullied? Sure sign language does help, but for me I don't think few movements of the hands would chase my nightmares away!
I am really glad that I have done this assignment, because it has made me realise that there is more to being Deaf than just knowing sign language and why it is very hard to be accepted into the Deaf Community. I urge anyone, who is doing sign language or any form of concerning the deaf community to wear the earplugs for a week and not a day!
March 2005
Webmaster: Christopher Wassall
