Back from the Deaf

Tonight, over dinner, my wife's brother, Douglas, asked me whether he was easier to talk with now.

Yes, I told him.

The back story is that he was profoundly deaf from an early age. He was taught to lip-read and speak. When I first met him, in the 1970's, I always had trouble speaking with him. He was hard to understand - there was something odd about his tone and pronunciation. And it was hard to make myself understood, as well. He often misunderstood what I would say.

My wife, however, has always been able to converse with him. She had mastered some knack, or set of knacks, for holding a conversation with him. She changed the way she spoke, moving her lips a certain way, restructuring her sentences, etc. It was actually a marvel to behold. She wasn't even particularly aware of doing all this.

About 2 years ago, Doug got a cochlear implant, a sort of computerized aritificial ear. He said it was very confusing at first, to hear sounds he never remembered hearing before. Sounds like birds chirping and dogs lapping water from a bowl.

But he worked hard at integrating the new noise into his understanding, and he has been working on his speech as well. Curiously, his improved hearing has helped not only his speech but his reading abilities as well.

After I said that yes, he was easier to talk to now, he asked me what it was like before.

I was baffled to describe it.

But I think I have a metaphor now. Talking to him was like talking to someone who knows some English, but not enough, and who speaks in a heavy accent, and who doesn't understand my accent.

It is such a pleasure to finally be able to have a relaxed conversation with the man! And he seems more relaxed now, too. It must have been horribly frustrating for most of his life.

I can't imagine all those years
With silent ears.