Can you hear what I see??

All my life I have know no other way than to wake up daily, put my hearing aids in my ears and grace the world with a beautiful, optimistic and positive attitude. And for this, I have my parents to thank.

My sister Emma and I were diagnosed with a moderate hearing loss when Emma was four and I was two. My mama had noticed that something was just no quite right. Consequently, she went to see numerous doctors and specialists who all sent her home and told her that she was being an over-reactive Mama and that we were 'fine'. Thankfully Mum acted on those ever so strong Mama-instincts and continued to fight until we were given the proper and correct hearing test to PROOVE that we were infact 'fine'. With my Dad also having a hearing loss and wears one hearing aid - there was a definite presence of hearing impairment in the family.

The results came in and it was confirmed - we were 'hard of hearing'. Mum was devastated....as with the results, came the comment from the doctor.....'They are deaf, they are going to be mute, they are not going to achieve anything or BE anything - you are just better off putting them in a special school'. And the response from my Mama laced with fury and hurt was 'OVER MY DEAD BODY'.

So Mama researched everything she could and devoted her life to her two girls to ensure that they had NO limitations - that the world was their oyster. We were enrolled into normal kindergartens and schools, we excelled in all of our classes, we were in the choir (musnt be too mute!), the swimming team (we could still hear the gun!), and the list is endless. To ensure we spoke with the utmost precision, we had speech therapy twice a week for 12 years. If our hearing aids broke, we would not miss a day of school - instead Mum or Dad would be late for work while they took it to be fixed. In the 12 years I was at school - I only missed 4 days of school.

Without my parents determination to give us a life - I know for sure we would not be the strong-minded, opinionated, happy and positive women we are today. My life is so ultimately blessed with my beautiful and loving family. I am now a full time Mama to Baby Moo - but I have worked for years in Law. I started as a fresh out of school paralegal and progressed to a Conveyancing Manager - being the author of up to 50 files and responsible for the relationship with countless clients. Emma is now a fully-qualified Teacher of the Deaf majoring in Special Education. Daily she shows the young deaf children of our generation that they can do ANYTHING! She teaches them that no matter what, they can go to be doctors, teachers, police officers, etc. And for those children to be able to relate to her - is my Mama's dream.

So when Mr H and I were told that our beautiful, perfect, little girl was 'hard of hearing' - there were only a few tears shed. But we knew that this small little defect would not affect her - it would only make her stronger to fight the narrow minded people in this world and more determined to be the VERY best person she could be. And as she sits here playing with her toys with her gorgeous baby pink hearing aids in - I look at her with pride, love and adoration. Never once has she complained or cried about the constant trips to Brisbane and Toowoomba for testing, doctors appointments or mould impressions. She greets every doctor, specialist and nurse with a beautiful smile and a little chuckle. She is an angel - who touches the lives of so many people and gives hope to her family that she will simply be OK as she grows older.

And she is lucky.....

* Lucky to have the most beautiful Daddy in the world - who never once shed a tear when he was told of her loss, smiled when he saw her hearing aids and provided her with the most beautiful, positive experience. In Daddy's eyes - Mummy wears hearing aids and he thinks she is the most beautiful person he has ever met....so why would he be upset about his baby girl taking after his Mummy?
* Lucky to have her Mimi & Poppy(my Mama & Papa) as they has been through the journey of having hearing impaired children. They are now my mentors - my guidance when things get tough with providing Moo with the right direction.
* Lucky to have her Aunty Em - a teacher of the deaf! There will be no slacking off for this little chicken!
* Lucky that she has so much to be thankful for - she can still hear her Mummy & Daddy telling them how much we love her, she can still see her friends and family and she can still walk, talk, crawl, cry and smile. She is just so lucky!



Playing with all the loud things she can get her hands on - rattles, maracas - she just loooooves NOISE!!



Special time with Daddy.....she also loooooves books!!

So the question is, can you hear what I see?