Perspektion

That's right, Perspective and Perception combined. It's two completely different things, but mean the exact same:

Main Entry:

per·cep·tion

Pronunciation:

\pər-ˈsep-shən\

Function:

noun

1 a: a result of percieving : Observation b: a mental image : concept

Main Entry:

¹per·spec·tive

Pronunciation:

\pər-ˈspek-tiv\

Function:

noun

2 a: the interrelation in which a subject or its parts are mentally viewed perspective> ; also : Point of View

According to Webster, they are relatively the same thing. Observation and Point of View are similar in nature in that it is a personal reflection of what you see before you. But there is one fundamental difference.

When someone looks at something, there are many things that can be said about that one thing. It may sound like a stupid and completely irrelevant sentence, but it's important. It has many hidden meanings and deep rooted truths, that are so simply found.

If something is red on bottom, and blue on top, that's the way it is, you can't change it. Your perspective can say either, it's blue, it's red, or it's blue on bottom and red on top. If it's the latter, your perspective is just trying to spite me, what a tricky perspective of yours. But, if you look at this... odd and obviously weird red and blue.. thing, and say, I hate it, it's too ugly. Or I hate it, it's too red. That's your perception. Obviously if you look at it and fear your life, it's perception too, but it's an embarrassing perception.

That example explains so beautifully the fundamental difference between these two seemingly similar things. Both involve you looking at an item and identifying it, we're taught that. But what we aren't taught in school (or Cognitive Psychology in college, for those of you interested) is that a person's perception is based not on factual visual information, but rather the reaction of their subconscious to something physical. A study done in an MRI scanner showed that white people had higher heart rates and anxiety when shown a picture of a black male in gangster clothing. A white male in a suit elicited no response. People's perception then of that situation would have to be one of anxiety, one of 'he's dangerous, I should maintain my distance.' Even, and this is an important point, EVEN, if their stated perspective of a black male was 'oh he's black? Didn't even notice.' Your words may lie, but your biology tells us the truth

I feel that this plagues me, now, mind you, I'm not saying I'm oppressed and people look down on me and the man is after me, I'm not saying any of that, and I don't want to get into a racial issue here. If you must, and especially if you care, I feel that the stigmatization towards blacks is unfair, and even I'm guilty of heightened blood rate when I see a black male in gangsta clothing. I blame society, they say it's equal, but what they say politically isn't what's shown in reality.

As I was saying, I feel this effect of - he's hearing impaired, ok, so what? Is the perspective of me, which is fine, I can't deny it. But when the perception of me is, he's less than me, or I'm better than him - then that bothers me. The worst part? Some people don't even realize they're doing it. It's just as much a subconcious decision when I'm involved as is anything else. Some people just act a little bit better than me and don't even realize they're doing it just because it feels as if they are naturally going about their business, treating me as a equal. But no, this is so far from the truth. If you could just look from the outside of your skin, just look at yourself and the way you treat me or anyone else like me, you'd be shocked at what you say, or how easily you brush me off. And I'm only using me, because saying me is easier than saying a person with hearing loss. I'm not speaking entirely from personal experience, I'm talking from what I've seen in life too.

I once saw a gentleman in the same situation I was in, a college student, living life with his buddies, and he was hearing impaired. The aids were as visible as mine, so I decided to sit and watch him a bit. He was cool with everyone, giving the high fives, the fist bumps, the general comaderie you've come to expect from your friends. But many of the people he talked to, just listened to him and kind of went along with whatever he said, and as soon as he turned, or walked away, they completely just stopped caring about what he was saying. It's funny, I almost think it might even be the perception, and this is such a simple thing the subconcious can cook up easily:
"If he can't hear me very well, then it must be ok if I don't hear him very well" (Whether on purpose or not).
What an astounding thing to wrap your head around. No one, NO ONE, would ever openly say this and expect to be friends with everyone. But the key point here, is the parantheses. Maybe people care less about what a person with hearing loss says, since they feel that person doesn't seem to care about what they say. But this is so far from the truth, we actually in fact, care more about what you say than average people. IF we hear what you say, we're going to hold onto that information because we are so happy we just heard you and we know something about you. Understanding someone 100% to us, is food to a starving man. We're constantly thrown little chips here, some pistachios there, maybe some sunflower seeds, but we rarely get the chance to sit down to a full course gourmet meal. But when we do, you bet your sweet tootin ass that we are going to savor it, every last bit of it.

We care, it's just you make it hard for us to care with that attitude of yours, that snobby, turned up, stuck up attitude where you just stop caring about what you say around us because if we don't hear you, you assume we don't care. Don't bother to repeat it, no, please, oh, what's that? Didn't hear you, nah it's ok, look upset that you have to repeat it, go ahead, be mad! We must obviously not be listening at all! Who would want to listen to you anyway?! Pfffft!

Hey, we may be different, we may be 'specail' and you may be saying, we gotta tream them like equals, they're just like us! News flash, you treat us like you treat everyone else, you're going to learn to hate us, fast. Like I said before, when you talk to someone who has a hearing loss, please, I'm literally begging you, fucking EXPECT them to NOT hear you. But don't talk to us in a baby voice or a different voice, we want to hear your normal voice, we want to hear your normal speed, so we can recognize it easier, so we can start understanding you faster. The more we recognize the simple words you causally say, the faster we can understand full sentences by filling in most of our gaps. And like I mentioned before, subject change - what a damn bitch.

So, you see something. Good for you. But now the key here is not just what you see. It's not all about perception anymore. If you look at something and you really 100% truly want to understand that fucking red and blue thing - don't worry about just what you see, think about what other people see. Think about the different perspectives to life. This red blue thing? Maybe it's too red for somebody, maybe it's too blue, maybe at the right angle the colors will meld into a purple medley, you think it's red on top and blue on bottom, but realize someone out there thinks it's blue on top and red on bottom. They aren't wrong, they are just perceptioning (yes, I know, it's not really a word, get over it) as blue on top and red on bottom. Your perspecktion lets you know that it's not only what you see, but it can be due to so many other reasons and so many other things at once.

Respect

As a person with a hearing loss, you deal with people who start off by giving you no respect, at all. It's a simple fact of life, and even if you don't notice it, it's there. It's as subconscious as racism - a study done showed that people placed in an MRI showed a heightened sense of fear or worry when shown a picture of a black male in street clothes as opposed to a white male in a suit. As much as you want to say, "I'm not racist, or I believe everyone is the same," it's nearly impossible, at least for the majority, to actually mean it on a subconscious level.

Unfortunately, the same applies for a person with a hearing loss. It is the very notion of someone using a machine to assist them, something not natural that allows someone to label someone with a hearing loss as less than a person. It is a goddamn shame that I have to realize this, and it's a goddamn shame that it happens. On a subconscious level, I start at 0, and have to work my way up, whereas everyone else starts at 10, and goes down depending on behavior. My Biology teacher has me and a student with a mental disability in his class. Of course he assumed I was like the person with a mental disability; he assumed and completely set me off. His attitude towards the accommodations was a bit disheartening. It took me 2 classes to make him, and the rest of the class, realize that hey, you know, I'm normal. As normal as you, and you, and even you.

Then again, I say to myself maybe there isn't a subconscious level to all of this nonsense, maybe it's just me. And is it me that leads people to go, oh Darryl, uh yeah, let's try to make him feel included but not actually give him anything important? Is it me you can ignore and pretend I don't notice, is it me that you think I can't fucking hear you when I act like anyone else would have? You know, I don't know if normal people do this, but if someone says something completely obnoxious when you are on your last nerve, you just smile, chuckle, shrug it off and ignore them right? Do you know how much it hurts when I do that, and as I walk down the hallway, I hear them talking about how I can't hear shit? That, really, fucking, hurts.

There are days when I'm sick of it all, when I realize I have a lot of work, and I do that work, but then I also have fun relieving that stress by playing with my friends, only to find that my friends aren't really my friends anymore; but merely acquaintances. Then what do I have to fall back on? I got so used to spending time with people now, that I've really opened up, but now what happens when I open up too much and people all of the sudden are turned off? For whatever odd reason, people who acted like I was cool and a great guy, just suddenly act like they are sick of me or they think less of me. Then what do I have to fall back on? I spent my entire freshman year trying to learn how to spend free time with other people, that my 'loner' way of life from high school is completely gone. Rarely there are times I wish I hadn't given up that livelihood. If I'm by myself or with people I don't know online, who is there to judge me? No one can judge me for being hearing impaired, no one judges me that way, at all, because they simply don't. I used to be attached to the computer, because there I was me. Here, on planet Earth, I'm Darryl, the hearing impaired kid.

There are plenty of times when I'm glad I came to my senses and started branching out to people, but there are fewer times when I wish I hadn't left the safety of my own world, the mundane, boring, going nowhere, with no fears world. Those few times come on strong, mainly because I was there, and I know how comfortable it was. I have yet to fully branch out, to fully immerse myself socially, and I have yet to get there, to see how it is. The feelings are strong, but the reasoning is stronger, telling me not to slip back into nothing; and it was essentially a world of nothing, no judgment, no friends, no relationship, no social aspect, no fun. It was day-in, day-out getting through without anyone judging you. Great, we've established I choose reasoning over comfort now, but back to the main point, what to do when you listen to reasoning, and there's just no one there to respect you back?

What sucks the most is, I have respect for absolutely everyone when I'm talking to them. I may not think highly of them, or I may not enjoy their company, but at least I respect all of them to their face. Ever hear of the expression "talking behind his back"? Yeah I'm familiar with that term, rarely am I guilty of it. I'll talk about someone, but not when they are there. Get this, people do that about me, but not behind my back, it's in front of my face. And I'm Darryl, the hearing impaired kid, not like I'm going to hear them.

The Million Dollar Question

In reference to "Better Off" I should close with this question.

Do you live your life asking why, or saying why not?

Ok, that made a lot more sense when I was falling asleep. It has no relevance at all to better off, and I think a more appropriate way of asking it is:

Do you live your life asking permission and waiting timidly, or do you do what you want to do and answer the questions of life instead of ask them?

Better Off?

I love my parents, I really do. If I could go back and change anything they did, I'd change nothing.



But the one thing that always nags at me in the back of my head, is would I have been better off as a kid with normal hearing loss? There are obvious things that a parent must do differently with a child who has a profound hearing loss and must use hearing aids. There are certain responsibilities the child must learn earlier on, and there are certain simple joys the child may never get to experience. Singing in the rain being one of them, we can sing, we can walk in the rain, we just can't hear ourself singing in the rain if we wanted to. We learn early on that dry is better, and we shy away from any instance or circumstance that may get us wet, because even the smallest amount of moisture falling on our hearing aids sets back our hearing ten fold, and our bank account even more.



Besides raising a child to be cautious about a very serious piece of equipment, there comes another obvious point, and that's the point of independence. I have yet to hear of a hearing impaired child whose parents did NOT attend to them almost every minute of every day. I have seen parents who, otherwise, would have raised their child differently, but upon discovering their child's hearing loss, they become different parents altogether. They become more attentive, more focused, more educated, and much much more worried. It is this observation that leads me to think, would I have been different without hearing loss?



As a child I was spoiled, yes I admit it, I was a spoiled little boy. My every whim, my every wish was met, could I have milk, could I have cookies, just three? no, more, just a few more minutes (every 10 minutes) and I'll go to sleep. Is it because my parents are very relaxed (yes, because quite honestly, a few more cookies doesn't do much harm, and a few more minutes doesn't really matter) but it's still important to hit home the important life lessons. A few more cookies breeds a bigger snack capacity, that will never stop growing. A few more minutes before bedtime breeds a lifetime of pushing I should go to sleep now back until it's I can't keep my eyes open.



Whether or not I was hearing impaired, I feel that would have turned out to be the same as I was growing up, however, the way I went about those few extra cookies, or the longer bedtime when I was finally on my own hinges on something else far more different than an allowance. And that difference comes from dependency. There is much concern circling a hearing impaired child as he attempts to face a school full of normal hearing children. There is much concern surrounding a child with hearing loss and enabling him to develop near perfect speech earlier on. There is obvious worry involving a child with hearing loss and whether or not he's safe enough to walk to school without getting run over or hearing an obvious attacker. All of these were issues I had to deal with, all of them my parents helped me deal with them. It took me awhile before I even worked up enough confidence in myself, in my simple ability, to order food. I was always worried I was going to mess up an order because I couldn't hear. It wasn't that the waiter or waitress couldn't hear what I was going to order, but always that I couldn't hear the pen scribbling on the pad or something. It was always the fact that I couldn't hear that I worried about talking to the right authorative person about personal needs I had regarding education, it was always my mother that I needed, that I relied on, that I came to understand - anything you need done, mommy can do it, because I can't hear.



I don't wish anything was different, like I said. I'm learning all the things that maybe I wish I learned earlier on, I'm learning now and I'm happy. Would it have made a difference? Maybe, maybe I'd be more disciplined, and I'd be further ahead with what I'm doing now, but at this point it doesn't make a difference. I've started it, and whether I'm only 7 months in or 2 years, doesn't matter, I'm seeing it to the finish.



But if I wasn't hearing impaired, would I have learned earlier on that I could call people without worrying about having to ask them to repeat? Would I have learned that if I needed anything, I could go up to a person of position and inquire as to how they can help me - and to that matter, would I have needed help in school if it wasn't for my hearing loss? The answer to that one is an obvious yes, since everything I did outside of going to school, going to class, and going home was all involved with my hearing loss. I would have developed a stronger sense of independence, and maybe a stronger sense of confidence earlier on. There are still a few things keeping my confidence low, and only half of that is really due to hearing loss even though it is slowly diminishing. The other half I'm certain would still be here regardless. And that is a speed bump, quite literally, that I'll have to get over sometime in the future.



Maybe I'd have learned independence earlier on, and while I wish I had - I have friends who knew how to get themselves to school and back home without any problems, and who were capable of making their own meals if need be. And I see what strong people they are now, but I realize, deep down inside do they still have that soft core, that five year old, that their parents grabbed ahold of all those years back and never let go? No, not entirely. If it wasn't for friends, they'd be completely hardened - now that's a problem. But it's not a problem really, and it's not a sad life. It's a fine life, some would even say their discipline, determination, drive, and ability to live on their own would be much more appealing than my humor, my sense of fun, and my sense of life is life, let it be what it is.



Looking back, I realize there are certain things that came out of it after all that wasn't too bad. When my friends are completely stumped as to what is what at an event, location, place, anything - they always ask me if they should do this, or if it's ok if they do that. I have completely no idea, but I'm the only one willing to go up to the staff or authoratitive person and ask them. Even if my friends don't because they feel it's a stupid question, or if they feel they are wasting the person's time- who gives a flying fuck, it's their goddamn job to help us. I've also had friends take that theory too far, as in, it's ok to throw garbage on the floor, it's the janitor's job to clean it up. I don't think to that extreme, a certain level of respect is a must, since it's crucial to fostering a relationship with the person in charge in the sense that, you respect my business and my work, and I'll get you what you need.

Maybe I would be stronger today than I am now if I wasn't hearing impaired, and I mean that in both the physical and mental way. I fully believe that maybe isn't really a maybe but an actuality. If I wasn't hearing impaired, I would have grown up to become a strong, independent, confident, and determined individual. I wouldn't expect shit to be handed to me, and I would expect to work for everything. I'm slowly learning that the hard way, and trust me, the hard way is harder in college than it is in middle school. Be ready for a shit ton of bricks to hit you hard, so hard the air gets knocked clear out of your lungs (don't worry, your hemoglobin is saturated with enough oxygen to keep you alive while you get your wind back). But also don't panic and realize this simple fact (because it applies to you too - and by you I mean primarily the kids like me, but to everyone else who feels that college is demanding a change in lifestyle and it's goddamn hard) - whether or not i'm a strong and confident individual now or a few years down the line. When I'm dead, I'm the same either way. And to put it more in depth, when I'm about to die, I'll be what I am, whether or not I changed in middle school, college, or halfway through college.

Enjoy life, grow some balls, and stop worrying so much about other people - life is limited, you don't want to live yours wishing you had worked up the courage to stand up for yourself and do things your way instead of waiting for someone to say it's ok for you to do it.

And yes, I know, trust me, I KNOW, that it's hard, and that you can't help it. Neither can I; but you have my word, as soon as I figure out how to overcome it, you'll be the first to know.