Frank.Hicinbothem@f501.n202.z1.fidonet.org (Frank Hicinbothem) (07/13/90)
Index Number: 9114
[This is from the Silent Talk Conference]
Well, now that the convention in Little Rock is over, I wanted to
share a few comments with you all.
It was great to meet Ann, Wayne, Jack, Laurie, and everybody else
that I'd heard about but never met. If you haven't met any of
your fellow SilentTalkers, you certainly should. Once we finally
connected, we ran all over the convention together.
(By the way, if anybody wants any details on any of the folks I
mentioned, just ask. I'll be happy to tell you anything you want
to know. And as soon as Jack gets the pictures out, I'll feed
'em to the scanner, make some GIFs, and send 'em around.)
The convention itself was fabulous. Lots of interesting
seminars, all kinds of techno-neato toys, great people, and a
TERRIFIC last-day party! I've already got next year's convention
marked off on my calendar! (It's in Denver next year, June 28 -
July 1, 1991.) If you've never been to one, you have to see it to
believe it.
The emotional impact of being surrounded by literally hundreds of
your fellow hearing impaired people is indescribable. Everyone's
heard the statistics about how many people are hearing
impaired... but it hits you on another level when you're standing
in a big room, surrounded by a thousand or so others just like
you. I've never been that comfortable in large groups, but I
felt right at home there.
I'm deaf in my right ear, and severely impaired in my left. Most
of the time I don't hear a whole lot. I'm used to being the only
hard of hearing person in the room-- but at the convention I got
tagged several times to do this or that because I was a hearing
person! I thought that was kind of cute. I have also discovered
that it doesn't help a whole lot to talk to the back of a deaf
person. <grin> Next year, I'm going to get a Nerf Ball to carry
around in my pocket! <bigger grin>
A couple of amusing anecdotes:
Ann, Laurie, and I were sitting in the coffeeshop at the hotel,
trying to have a conversation. (Background: Ann is oral deaf and
doesn't sign, but has a clear, deep voice, and she speechreads
real well. I'm hard of hearing, and don't sign, and lipread
poorly. I also talk too fast, and have a mustache that makes
things difficult to lipread. Laurie is oral deaf, and signs, and
speechreads, but she has a high, soft voice that's hard to hear.)
I was trying to talk to Laurie, but it was noisy, and I couldn't
understand her. After a LOT of trying, we ended up having Ann act
as interpreter!
I was trying to have a conversation with a charming young lady
from L.A. She's deaf, and not very oral, and I was having an
awful time trying to understand and communicate. She was trying
to sign to me, but I don't sign. Wayne was standing there
watching. I didn't think much of it-- I figured he was having as
much trouble as I was. It wasn't until later that I discovered
that Wayne can sign with the best of them! Guess he figured I
was doing badly enough without his help! <grin>
The only not-so-good part of the whole convention was at the
finale festival. They had to hold it inside because of the heat,
and it was so noisy and confused that I had to resort to
borrowing a little personal amplifier and a hand-held microphone
so I could hear what was going on. It's one of my peculiarities
that I HATE to be restricted by wires and things attached to me.
But it wasn't so bad-- I didn't feel anywhere near as
selfconscious as I would have out in the hearing world.
Anyway, I'm out of lines in this message! Hope to see you all in
Denver next year!
--
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