Hello everyone. I am back. I want to introduce myself again
because I haven’t posted anything about my journey since 2015. My name is
Julia. I am Deaf and have Cerebral Palsy.
When my mom got pregnant, she found out that she was carrying triplets. I was born premature and had to spend three
months in the hospital before I could go home. Unfortunately, my older brother
and sister did not survive; therefore, I am a surviving triplet. Before I left
the hospital, my parents found out that I was deaf because I failed my newborn hearing
test. They also found out that I had Cerebral Palsy as a result of being born
premature. I had a rough start in
life. My doctors told my parents that I would
never be able to speak/sign or to walk. I proved my doctors wrong and have been
proving people wrong ever since.
I am the only deaf person in my family. I use American Sign
Language for communication. I can speak
and read lips, but it is not as effective for me because I can miss words in
conversation. I am lucky because my parents and grandparents learned sign
language when I was about 3 years old so that they could communicate with me. I do have
two Cochlear Implants that help me to hear some sounds and to recognize when
people are speaking to me; however, I sometimes get busy with college life that
I forget to use them (plus sometimes it can be very loud and distracting during
the day). My parents and younger siblings speak and sign
to communicate with me.
My parents taught me not to use my challenges as an excuse
not to succeed. I was born in
Cincinnati, Ohio. Unfortunately, my
hometown didn’t have a lot of experience with kids like me (deaf with an
additional disability) so we moved to get access to things that I needed. We moved to St. Louis, Missouri, Bowie,
Maryland (I attended 2 different schools there), Austin, Texas, and now Hampton
Roads, Virginia for me to get the education that I needed. Last year, I graduated with honors from the
Texas School for the Deaf and now I am a first year college student at Hampton
University. I am so proud to say that I am first totally Deaf student at my
university.
People are always surprised with what I am able to
accomplish. Growing up, I experienced
bullying and discrimination from first grade or second grade through high
school because of my unique challenges. I also experienced racism from eighth
grade through my senior year of high school.
Some people didn’t think that I belonged in a “normal” school
environment. Others thought that I
shouldn’t be a cheerleader or be in the school play. They don’t think that I should be in a
University. I accomplished all of this
because a found my own way to accomplish what I wanted. I am really enjoying the Historically Black Colleges
and Universities (HBCU) experience; however, I would be lying if I said it was
easy. As the first Deaf student, there
are a lot of things that my university has to get used to (like providing
interpreters for all of my activities on campus). Still, it is the best decision that I make to
attend my university.
I want to share my
experiences with others who have similar challenges as me or know people who
do. I will be honest about the good and
the bad and hopefully, you, the reader, can learn something from my
journey. Buckle up because it will be a
bumpy ride. Thank you for your time to
read this blog. Please subscribe so that
you can be the first to know when I post something new. Have a great day and see you soon.
