No title fits

I am unable to come up with even a generic, non-witty title for this post. And I really don’t even think this issue would appreciate a witty title.

I work in customer service for a company that produces and supports cochlear implants and their external sound processors. I absolutely love this company, love the amazing strides they’ve made in bringing the gift of sound to thousands of people and the technological advancements they are making and will continue to make. Every day I am touched and brought to tears by the stories of adults regaining the hearing they feared was lost forever and by the stories of children whose parents thought they might never get to experience the sounds of our world.

I guess I was naive in thinking that being deaf was the only challenge our recipients faced. As if giving them the ability to hear again would solve all of their problems in life. And for a good number of our recipients that IS their only challenge and they go on to lead relatively normal lives.

But for others it is just the tip of the iceberg. Some have down syndrome, autism, are blind AND deaf, or are physically or mentally handicapped in ways that for them hearing is just the tip of the iceberg. This not only breaks my heart  but also humbles me and makes me so very thankful that CD is strong, healthy and doesn’t have to battle these kinds of challenges.

I may rag on the mothers and fathers who call in with an attitude from the get-go and who seem to be carrying the “my child is deaf” chip on their shoulder, but at the end of the day I can’t say that I wouldn’t be the same way if this was something that afflicted CD. I can only imagine how terrifying, stressful and anger-inducing all of this is.

This post doesn’t really have a point other than to say, publicly, that I finally get it. I can’t empathize but I do sympathize.