A woman on Reddit has refused to visit her parents after they said they won’t be learning sign language to talk to her, even though she lost her hearing eight years ago
The woman feels like a burden around her parents (stock image) (
Image: Getty Images/Johner RF)
Learning a new language is no easy task, but most of us would at least try to pick up the basics of sign language if a loved one lost their ability to communicate via speech.
But one woman on Reddit has revealed her parents are refusing to compromise and won’t give sign language a go – even though their daughter has been deaf for eight years.
The woman – who is from the US – said she was in an accident when she was 18 that caused her to lose most of her hearing and while she isn’t completely deaf, she can’t understand speech at all and has to rely on sign language to communicate.
She said: “When I was 18, I was in an accident that caused a traumatic brain injury, resulting in me losing most of my hearing in both ears, making me deaf. I didn’t qualify for cochlear implants, so being deaf was just my new reality.
She says her family won’t even turn on captions when they watch movies (stock image)
(
Image:
Getty Images/Tetra images RF)
Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here.
“Obviously this derailed my life for a while. University got pushed back, and I was depressed for a long time. Eventually, I got back out there, discovered the deaf community, learned ASL (American sign language), and at 26 I now feel very content with my life.”
The woman said she tried to get her parents to learn ASL a few years ago but they said they “didn’t have time” to learn a new language.
Even though she gave them resources to start learning, they have “shown no interest” – and only communicate with their daughter via the voice-to-text function on their phones.
She added: “My parents were devastated by my accident and our relationship has never been the same.
‘My husband tracks our kids’ every move – I think it’s an invasion of privacy’
“A few years ago, I told them I have embraced being deaf and I asked them if they would learn ASL, as that is now how I prefer to communicate. They said no at the time because they didn’t have time to learn …….
Source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/i-went-deaf-teen-parents-25838846