The Mythical *Pass* for Differently-Abled People

[SuperFemme]

Originally Posted by DamonK

No tty.

My new hearing aid (3 yrs old by now) is digital rather than analog. I have mastered the art of holding phone just right to my microphone.

I don't think I'd know how to use a tty.

Yeah, quite often people think I wanna make out with them. For me, being deaf, it takes me a second longer to process whatever's being said. So I may be staring at lips a bit longer.... Not intentional. Just processing.

I never knew why my parents didn't learn ASL.

The only things I have that make it obvious is my hearing aid...batteries...dogs that bark if someone knocks or doorbell rings and closed captioning on my tv.

I do good with my cell phone.

I can't hear on house phone.

My parents are insistent I'm normal. They raised me to believe I could do anything I wanted. I'm not saying they did wrong. Not by any means. However, it was a slap in the face to discover I COULDN'T do anything I wanted. I had limitations. I had to adapt to them.

Example: I wanted to be a criminal profiler for FBI. Can't get in FBI.
Example: I wanted to be in the armed forces. Can't do that either.
Example: I wanted to be a surgical technologist. I can't do that either! (I can't read lips through surgical masks!)
Example: I wanted to be a teacher. Um, if I need an interpreter to be a student, how am I gonna be a teacher?
Example: I was a music major. Yes, I know how to play an instrument. I played quite well. I can't hear the difference between flat and sharp without other instruments or a metrodome.

Limitations. They suck.

I hear you about limitations. I am ever hopeful that we are going to keep pushing new legislation that opens more doors for people with different abilities.

Except for the surgical tech/mask thing I don't think it's right that you cannot do anything else on that list. Even the surgical tech job could be possible with some kind of compensation maybe? I don't know.

What instrument do you play?

Oh, an the tty thing. They give you a phone that looks like this:



and people call you through a tty operator, who types what they are saying onto a screen for you. you either type or speak your responses.

not too awful, and i'm pretty sure you can pick up a phone just about anywhere here in the states and get a tty operator.