Communication

COMMUNICATION

I realize that communication issues are problematic for the majority of our population. Gender, race, religion, education, financial status, personalities, nor background, level the playing field for individuals seeking to improve their communication skills. No person is free from the types of problems poor communication creates.

So what happens when a person becomes deaf? According to the National Institute on Deafness, (http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/) deafness is a communication “disorder”. How much more difficult is it to communicate when you are deaf?

My husband has been discussing communication with me a great deal lately, and we’ve had many lively interactions on the topic. Certainly, married couples should strive to have excellent communication skills.

Helen Keller, who was both deaf and blind said, “I am just as deaf as I am blind. The problems of deafness are deeper and more complex, if not more important than those of blindness. Deafness is a much worse misfortune. For it means the loss of the most vital stimulus – the sound of the voice that brings language, sets thoughts astir, and keeps us in the intellectual company of man.”

I believe she succinctly describes what hearing loss can do to relationships. Something that came as a surprise to me after having lost my hearing, was the realization that my husband and I must have been good communicators. For the loss that I felt from being unable to communicate effectively came from deep within, and seemed to touch every part of our marriage. The following journal entries, will be some personal ideas and discoveries I have made in my own trials of communicating. I only know how a tear in the fabric of communication affected me, so my story is rather one-sided. I do know, however, that it took finding a Tailor who could mend those tears and bring me closer to Himself.