Five-Star Disability

This blog I started a long time ago, but never finished it!

If you’ve followed my blog, my story, you should know that I am DeafBlind with ataxia. But I was not always this way; I do have a voice, and I can speak, I grew up hearing, listening to music, could carry on conversations.

I did learn, and mastered ASL, to help overcome my hearing loss, but also to overcome my voice loss.

Now, my voice is garbled, grated, useless. I can’t pronounce many words like I used to. If I use my voice, it starts strong only to peter out mid sentence, sputtering to a blurred silent cacophony of utter babbling. As if my vocal cords decided, unceremoniously, that what I had to say was unworthy of verbalization.

Even my wife can’t understand my voice. She tells me to use ASL!

Yet, I do still use my larynx, yet I really need to stop this. It leads to frustration for everyone! Some examples:

One the day after I started this blog: I verbally asked my wife and them my mother something, while I passing through the doorway to my Mum’s adobe. Neither heard me.

Recently, I was watching a movie with my son, and I called out to my wife, who was puttering around the kitchen. I even waved, trying to get her attention. But, in the end, I made my own cup of coffee.

Those two examples are enough… I can’t think of any others…

So, I guess I need to focus on ASL, not vocalization. No one can understand me, but they can if I sign!

I might as well tell you; Not every person with CAPOS, there is about 75 of us, will have exactly the same abilities… just to let you know what my next blog will be…

Thank you for reading, liking, sharing, donating…