Velcro..a really gripping story..

So.. today i was helping my daughters boy friend work on his 84 jeep Cherokee..

he is deaf in one ear by 100% and in the other ear by 70% and has a hearing aid on his right ear..

he is 24 years old and has gone to deaf schools all his life..so he can sign and read lips really well..

but..and i am not gonna be mean..there are some words he has never learned in those schools..

so..on with my story..while we were working on said Jeep..he asked if i had any "stick to itself"

as he wanted to mount a cup holder on the hump between the seats..( it kept falling off he told me)..


Hmm i said..."stick to itself" what could that mean?

being a guy who knows a lot of things in life from dealing with college students who always say stuff that i have to figure out..(true story)..

I guessed he was talking about Velcro..so I asked him if he meant Velcro..

he had no clue what i meant..so we looked at each other for a minute..kinda weird moment..lol

then i told him to come to my truck and i got out some strips of Velcro and asked him if this was "stick to itself"?

He said "yes" woo hoo..we were both stoked..haha..

what a fine moment that was..we set up his cup holder and all was good...

my point here is this..

working with someone with a disability is challenging and rewarding at the same time..

who knew he didn't know the word but knew the object?

i didn't..so it was a great learning experience for both of us..

I hope this will help any of you out there who knows or works with someone with a disability to remember..

they are just like us..just a bit different in what they may or may not know..

Neat story refreshing change from doom and gloom political junk. For some reason this story reminds me of a guy I used to work with who had 2 thumbs on his left hand. We always used to say don't let Ted do it he'll screw it up he's all thumbs!! I have no idea why your story reminded me of that guy but it sure put a smile on my face.

reply to post by jaynkeel


Thanks bro...

still a good story...

glad i could share and bring back a memory!

reply to post by baddmove


Great story!

Just out of curiosity, did you find out why "velcro" was an alien word for your friend. I ask because all I can think of is that, maybe, it's a difficult word to lip read? Or it is identical, from a lip reading standpoint, to other words?

It's just how my mind works!

reply to post by Hefficide


good question...

I asked him that also and he told me he had used it before but was always given to him so he never actually learn the name of Velcro..

so in his mind he just made up a word(s) for it..

cool huh?

A very nice story. You should have titled it "Velcro..a really gripping story"

reply to post by berkeleygal


Thank you sweety...

a great idea..done!

bump..

third line..

reply to post by jaynkeel


Thanx... i thought it was a cool story to share.

I'm glad you liked it.. peace..

One of the funniest moments in my former PC support job was when I was sent out to fix someone PC and on arriving I found out that he was deaf, dumb and he couldn't read English as his native language was French. We worked our way through his problem through hand gestures and drawing pictures on bits of paper and we both fell about laughing at the absurdity of the situation.

It was one of the most satisfying repair jobs I ever did!

Disabilities affect us in all areas of life, some you wouldn't expect.

I have lost most of my hearing in my left ear and a good deal of my right. Most of the loss is in the higher frequencies. I cannot hear electronic alarm clocks, some phones, high pitched tones and ...unfortunately... I have a very hard time understanding women and children because the inunciation of constants is very difficult to understand. The main problems are sounds from the letters t,p,s,z,b,c,d,k and v.

If there is any background noise at all it is difficult to understand nearly anybody speaking quietly. I can do a little bit of lip reading and along with the general sound of the words, context of a sentence and watching lips intently I can understand what people are saying. Unfortunately I have nearsightedness so I have to remove my glasses to see their lips up close.

I am single and find it hard to meet women in busy social settings. One of the embarrasing things about meeting women is that I must lean in close to listen, pull off my glasses, watch them intently to see their lips move and then pause to put everything together in context. As often as not, I have to ask them to repeat what they are saying more than once.

This all culminates in an apparently hilarious (for my friends) interaction that makes me look intense, creepy and a little bit absentminded or just plain dumb.

I'm fortunate that I still have some hearing left and usually I can see the humor in it but I've been pretty frustrated with meeting new people on occasion because of it.

I can't imagine how hard it would have to be to adapt to being completely deaf.

reply to post by badgerprints


Thanks for sharing that with us..i appreciate it..

I hope you find your mate despite your hearing loss..

I've always heard that there is someone for everyone..