Published on by Cody Stratton.
I no longer bear the memory of when I was younger than three years old. The following is a restatement of what my parents told me.
I was around 18 months old when I woke up earlier than my parents, activated the television in the living room, and sat close to the TV. I didn’t bother using the couch further away from the entertainment set. My parents entered the living room from behind me. I made no notice of their entrance. Concerned with my proximity to the television, my parents spoke my name. I didn’t budge. Again, they said my name, this time loudly. No indication of any acknowledgement was made by me. Distraughtly and louder still, they exclaimed, “Cody!” in vain. That was when my parents realized my disability.
My first hearing aids came when I was 2 years old. I did not know what to make of it. The new sensation was strange. According to the audiologist, I was severely deaf on both ears. It is very likely that I am born this way. One of the symptoms was tinnitus: an incessant ringing in my ears that occasionally surfaces.
When we return to the driveway at home from receiving my new hearing device, a loud motorcycle passed by on the street next to the house. It scared me. Not necessarily understanding the source of the sound, I cried.