Overcoming thought
The Eighth Nerve The other day I caught a segment on NPR where someone shared his experiences with severe stuttering.  We didn't turn on the radio until partway through however and I didn't catch his name or the name of the segment.  He shared about his childhood experiences in school, where he went through several painful years of  [...]
Thu, Oct 15 2009
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I misheard when..
The Eighth Nerve John:  He died from a car crash. Me: A cock rash?!
Wed, Oct 14 2009

Not hearing, not Deaf
The Eighth Nerve In his book, Dreams from my Father, Barack Obama writes about identity and finding his way as a young man who was half white and half black.   I could never go as far as to say that I could remotely know what it is like to be biracial in America, but I do feel like [...]
Thu, May 28 2009

My Calling
The Eighth Nerve A couple weeks ago I met with Gina Oliva, the author of Alone in the Mainstream, for dinner. Her book was the catalyst for my much-needed shift, a shift that occurred on intellectual, physical, and emotional levels (also known...
Wed, Oct 31 2007

Trauma and discovery
The Eighth Nerve I grew up believing, deep down, I was not deaf because I had no context and no reference point for it. I could pass as a hearing person, I appeared to be fine. With this, I came to believe there...
Tue, Jun 19 2007

The Evolution of the Hearing Aid
The Eighth Nerve (I forgot to close the battery compartment on the middle and last aids but whatever) The hearing aid on the left is the analog behind the ear. I wore this kind from age 2 to age 23. This type...
Mon, May 07 2007

A thought wanders into space
The Eighth Nerve The description for the sign "dream" in the American Sign Language dictionary is "a thought wanders into space." I love that image and the saying will probably cycle for some time, added to the collection of phrases and poetics that...
Sun, Jan 21 2007

Solitaire discussion continues..
The Eighth Nerve on vlog. And a great comment on Oh I See from A Taste for Ideas: "It's odd -- I'm almost getting the feeling that people who are born-deaf-raised-oral aren't just accepting their deafness, they're awakening to it. (Hearie here, so...
Sun, Jan 14 2007

Everyone has something
The Eighth Nerve For the past week or two I have been focusing on the uniqueness and implications of hearing loss. My greater belief, however, is that these experiences are like layers. The outer layers are more unique to me as an individual,...
Tue, Jan 09 2007

Sound and fury
The Eighth Nerve In another curious coincidence, the next DVD to arrive in the mail was Sound and Fury. The thing about getting DVDs in the mail is that the movie is picked out months in advance and usually we are not sure...
Sun, Jan 07 2007

Why I love the internet
The Eighth Nerve Over the last couple days I've received very supportive and encouraging comments and emails from several people I've never even met. In the process I also discovered some great links to new blogs by others with hearing loss. I hope...
Sat, Jan 06 2007

Solitaire
The Eighth Nerve Steve got me Alone in the Mainstream: A Deaf Woman Remembers Public School by Gina A Oliva. To be honest, I did not think I would relate to the book. The book was about a "deaf" woman. I felt the...
Thu, Jan 04 2007

New world?
The Eighth Nerve A famous psychologist, I can't remember for the life of me who, believed in asking his clients about their first memory. Their first memory, he felt, told a lot about them and their life. My first memory, or at least...
Thu, Jan 04 2007