Unfair

Earlier this week, the student I was working with had to leave early for an appointment, so I ended up working with a deaf lady for the last hour of the day. I was so completely broken at the end of that hour that I just burst into tears as the moment another support worker asked me if I was ok.

It is difficult enough for an average deaf person to learn in the hearing world, when everyone around you is speaking a language you don't understand. But for someone with severe learning disabilities, I can't even imagine the isolation, the frustration of not being able to communicate. I had to find creative ways to communicate with this woman, and when I did, I was surprised at how able she is. But how many people take the time and the effort to do that? I certainly never had before. If there was a school just for deaf people with learning disabilities, I know she would be able to do so much more. Instead, she walks around grabbing people and crying, and it breaks my heart now that I understand why. She is locked away, trapped in a world of her own because she is unable to break into ours.