“My 16-year-old daughter pointed to each of us. She put out her hand, palm up. No lie, I was confused. Why did she have her hand out? Did she want a high-five? Was she looking for money? There had to be something wrong. She placed them on the table, screen down, and then made eye contact with us. I mean, ACTUAL eye contact. I stared at her, hanging onto every-single-word.”
‘Hand them over.’ I asked her why. ‘You-guys-are-on-them-too-much.’ Say what? Us guys? Us?’: Mom stunned when 16-year-old ‘budding Instagram model’ daughter insists on no screen time at dinner
‘Is your husband deaf, too?’ No, but he’s the most patient man I’ve ever met.’: Cancer survivor marries ‘hearing husband,’ claims ‘harships’ make her ‘glad to be born deaf’
“Yes, I’m deaf and my husband can hear. He reminds me when I leave the water running because I can’t hear it, or when my car is making a funny noise. He makes all my appointments over the phone. The amount of times I’ve said, ‘Huh? I have no idea what you’re saying,’ are endless. But I seriously couldn’t do life without him by my side acting as my ears and being my person. He makes me glad to be born deaf.”
‘As a mom, you just KNOW. Something didn’t feel right. Cars zipped by on the busy street. I trembled as we made our way to the front of the building. We were only a few steps away. I wanted to run, but I didn’t.’
“I wish I could’ve jumped into one of those passing cars and pretended it never happened. That I hitchhiked, ran away, disappeared. I thought we could find someone to ‘fix’ my son. As the woman in the office spoke, I couldn’t take my eyes off her mouth. I knew the word that would come. I didn’t believe her.”
‘My name is Cooper. I have autism and am nonverbal, but I still LOVE CANDY! TRICK-OR-TREAT.’
“Last year Cooper made it to exactly three houses before he pushed a pumpkin off a deck and tried to bust into the house to watch TV. He also walked backwards the whole time. Yes, backwards.”
‘Will he ever talk? This is the question I get asked most often about my son.’
“He may never be able to verbally communicate, and I can say with confidence – I’m okay with that. Cue the ‘gasps.'”
