Summary Of Carol Garretson's 'Through Deaf Eyes'

After reading Chapter 1 of “Through Deaf Eyes”. I was not surprised by the facts that were introduced in Chapter 1. Some of these things that were talked about and discussed I have experienced in my life as a deaf person with cochlear implants. "Do you lip read? That's a very dangerous question because if you say yes, they talk [way too fast]." This was stated by Carol Garretson in Chapter 1. For me personally, I cannot stress how true this statement is. Even though I am a “skilled” lip reader, I still encounter frustrations with others when it came to lipreading. The frustrations included what people did not understand about lipreading and their assumptions. I remember when I was little, I told other children that I can lipread. Immediately afterward, the children around me started talking fast assuming that I would be able to keep up with the pace. I remember storming off, annoyed and frustrated. Mom told me later that the children were not making fun of me, they just didn't understand how hard it could be. As stated in Chapter1, there are words are so similar to one

Even with cochlear implants, I often times unconsciously rely heavily on lip reading when talking to a person. Throughout middle school and high school, I found myself explaining over and over about lip reading and how I depend on it to help me. I wasn't sure if the teachers or students understood but I was proven wrong when I went on my Schlitterbahn senior trip. Because of the water, I could not wear my implants and this meant I would have to depend heavily on lip reading. I was nervous about this and thought I would get left behind in the park. Instead, to my surprise, my friends took their time speaking to me and I was engaged in conversations without my implants( it was the first time for me to speak to my friends without the implants!). The trip ended up being a blast and I couldn't be any prouder of my