Sunday, May 29, 2011
Every day finds me discovering in new ways how well trained Gracie is, thanks to the wonderful people at International Hearing Dog, Inc. (IHDI).
Today we went to Perkins for Sunday Brunch ...along with many many other people including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar! Before putting on Gracie's orange vest and going in, we took a "hurry up" potty break. We then put on the Hearing Dog vest and went in. Bruce and his friend were already sitting in a booth. We joined them. Gracie lay down at my feet after being told to "settle" and waited quietly while we ordered and ate. The best part of all was that, thanks to Gracie, the waitress understood that I had a serious hearing issue. Because of this, I didn't have to explain myself every time she came back to the table to say something more that I was not able to understand because I wasn't looking at her until she was already halfway through what she had come to ask.
As a self-taught lip reader, I think I do pretty well when I know someone is going to talk and I have the time and opportunity to look at the person while he or she speaks. When I am not looking right at the person speaking, I do not know what he or she is saying and sometimes I do not even know that the person is speaking (or, at least, speaking to me). Because people in general don't like to repeat themselves and because I don't like upsetting people by asking them to do this, I have developed the bad habit of acting like I know what was said when I don't really know at all. Other times, I say, "I don't hear well. Could you please repeat that?" Unfortunately, most people don't know that saying exactly what they said before would be the best thing for me. When they say it a different way, I have to decode it all from the beginning! That is a lot of work and very tiring.
Bruce's friend wanted to know--when he first got here yesterday--what a Hearing Dog was supposed to do for me (since obviously a dog does not talk and cannot, therefore, help me carry on a conversation more effectively). When he asked, I listed off the basic list of skills Gracie came with (the ones we are practicing together). Today I would say instead, "Gracie makes my life easier by bringing my hearing loss out of the closet." Today, though, he didn't ask. Today he could see himself that this was true. He could see what an amazingly well trained dog Gracie is and how this allows me to be more relaxed when out in public with her!
"I don't see your hearing aids," he did say at one point this morning and then added, "That's a good thing." But I don't hide my hearing aids intentionally. Like Gracie, I have thick, wavy hair. I don't want to hide my hearing loss as if having a hearing loss made me abnormal. We are all different in some way. Instead of pretending that we're not, we should be ourselves and, in this way, allow others to do the same. Being different from others in some way isn't abnormal; it's normal!
Every day finds me discovering in new ways how well trained Gracie is, thanks to the wonderful people at International Hearing Dog, Inc. (IHDI).
Today we went to Perkins for Sunday Brunch ...along with many many other people including Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar! Before putting on Gracie's orange vest and going in, we took a "hurry up" potty break. We then put on the Hearing Dog vest and went in. Bruce and his friend were already sitting in a booth. We joined them. Gracie lay down at my feet after being told to "settle" and waited quietly while we ordered and ate. The best part of all was that, thanks to Gracie, the waitress understood that I had a serious hearing issue. Because of this, I didn't have to explain myself every time she came back to the table to say something more that I was not able to understand because I wasn't looking at her until she was already halfway through what she had come to ask.
As a self-taught lip reader, I think I do pretty well when I know someone is going to talk and I have the time and opportunity to look at the person while he or she speaks. When I am not looking right at the person speaking, I do not know what he or she is saying and sometimes I do not even know that the person is speaking (or, at least, speaking to me). Because people in general don't like to repeat themselves and because I don't like upsetting people by asking them to do this, I have developed the bad habit of acting like I know what was said when I don't really know at all. Other times, I say, "I don't hear well. Could you please repeat that?" Unfortunately, most people don't know that saying exactly what they said before would be the best thing for me. When they say it a different way, I have to decode it all from the beginning! That is a lot of work and very tiring.
Bruce's friend wanted to know--when he first got here yesterday--what a Hearing Dog was supposed to do for me (since obviously a dog does not talk and cannot, therefore, help me carry on a conversation more effectively). When he asked, I listed off the basic list of skills Gracie came with (the ones we are practicing together). Today I would say instead, "Gracie makes my life easier by bringing my hearing loss out of the closet." Today, though, he didn't ask. Today he could see himself that this was true. He could see what an amazingly well trained dog Gracie is and how this allows me to be more relaxed when out in public with her!
"I don't see your hearing aids," he did say at one point this morning and then added, "That's a good thing." But I don't hide my hearing aids intentionally. Like Gracie, I have thick, wavy hair. I don't want to hide my hearing loss as if having a hearing loss made me abnormal. We are all different in some way. Instead of pretending that we're not, we should be ourselves and, in this way, allow others to do the same. Being different from others in some way isn't abnormal; it's normal!
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