I didn't know 1 in 10 had a loss. Wow! I was 8 when diagnosed. Funny thing is at 6 I passed hearing tests because I could read my testers body language so well. As a result I was misdiagnosed as autistic and placed in special ed with kids that...drooled. No offense to anyone that has a special needs kid but it totally damaged me. That is, being placed with kids in wheelchairs that had an IQ of less than 70.

By the time I was properly diagnosed after an astute audiologist hid her face from me in the glass window during testing, I was trapped by the "paperwork".

At 37 years of age now, it still haunts me. I ended up being placed on Prozac at 16 because of it.

I hope now, school has changed for us. Back in the 90s...it was hell. I was in a classroom where 1 teacher taught all subjects. It severely damaged me and my self esteem. Despite testing at gifted levels there wasn't any placement for me back then. Funny enough though, my best friend, also Deaf who was gifted too ( how we met) and placed in the same environment until she moved to a different state, opened my eyes to this discrepancy.

I found out years later after graduating that the more special ed students my school had, the more money they received from the government which was completely mismanaged and pocketed by local politicians. It was a straight up...political scam and I got caught in the crosshairs.

I'd be a whistleblower if I wasn't afraid of the ramifications but as a result of my experiences, hiding my deafness and being ashamed was normal to me. As I've said, old habits die hard and its time to let THAT die.

Tonight was my first step! Anyone else go through what I did in the early 90s? I can't be the only one.