Day by Day: The Chronicles of a Hard of Hearing Reporter

Mouth Wide Open

130  Mouth Wide Open My parents told me I was bornwith my mouth wide open and crying, like most babies. But over the years, after I learned to talk, my mouth stayed open talking away. I loved meeting new people, visiting neighbors, singing, laughing and this remains a part of me today. It follows that, twenty-three years later, my baby, Mary, was born crying, healthy and loving to talk like her mother. When Mary was about the same age as I was when she was born, her family began to grow with three children in five years. She and her daughter, Elizabeth , love to chatter, read out loud, sing and both learned to play violin. We joke that the love of talking must be hereditary. My hearing was getting profoundly worse as my grandchildren were being born. At one point, Mary began teaching her children Baby Sign. Her reasoning? “I always want them to be able to talk with their Nana.” My heart pounded with love and appreciation. Mouth Wide Open 131 Real Communication Takes Real Effort July ,  We must be born with a desire to communicate. The first thing we do is open our mouths and cry out. Maybe we are saying, “Put me back where I am safe!” We’ll never know. Next we learn to babble, sit up, crawl, stand, talk and walk. If we don’t talk, somehow we learn to let mom and dad know what we want or need. If we are born deaf, we use our hands to communicate long before a hearing baby makes sense of complicated verbal language. So how did that desire to connect with others evolve into some of the forms of communication prevalent today? One day, I was having lunch at a local restaurant and watched two young children playing with toy cellular phones—at least I hoped they were toys. Another time, I was traveling via airplane and a man sat next to me talking incessantly on his tiny cell phone. It was hard to ignore and he seemed to be negotiating a business deal, yet he did all the talking. I wondered how successful that deal was since he did very little listening. Looking around, while my little hearing dog was sleeping in my lap, a woman circled the airport lobby area talking on her cell phone while her young daughter tugged at her blouse for attention. She didn ’t get it. Another woman was talking while eating a meal. A man walked by with his hand up to his ear with his mini cell phone. Another young man opened a briefcase and started talking on his phone. At least six people were talking on phones in the small waiting area. What did we do before cell phones and electronic mail? Slipping into extinction are pay phones, hand-written letters and postcards, pagers and even wonderful reunions where we finally had the opportunity to talk to someone face-to-face. I always carry quarters for pay phones when traveling. Pay phones now are usually vacant since most people talk on cell phones. There are times that cell phones must be a blessing, but who are these people talking to? E-mail is a great time saver and communication tool, yet I would never use e-mail to discuss at length employment or personal issues. I think it is too impersonal and others cannot hear the inflection in voices or see facial expression. I opt for personal communication so emotions can be seen. A few months back, another issue of communication was brought to my attention when I interviewed Parker Greene, then a New Albany High School junior. My first and lasting impression was that she is a bright, intelligent, beautiful young woman who is very communicative using voice and American Sign Language. I also use both when appropriate . I learned she had her cochlear implant at age  and since then has had three new and improved voice processors. Her speech was clear for someone born deaf and her desire to befriend classmates was strong. She moved to New Albany during fifth grade. She still attended Columbus Public Schools classes for the hearing impaired, where the classes were small and teachers were trained to work with children with hearing loss. In seventh grade, she attended New Albany schools where she has continued through high school. She has worked avidly to inform classmates she...