I am a deaf person. Ich bin gehörlos.

I am a deaf person. (deutscher Text unten)

I wake up every day with a vibrator alarm or a light signal, which sometimes becomes intolerable. Yes, I am a deaf person.

I watch TV, not with sound but I use subtitles or I’m watching an interpreter. Yes, I am a deaf person.

On my moves or lunch break, alone with my friends on Facebook, phone, facetime … My mobile is my salvation. Yes, I am a deaf person.

I do not hear the sound of wind, birds, rain, or melody, but what can not appreciate my ears, my eyes see it. It is my most valuable personal element. It is the window of my soul. And my hands are the bridge that connects me to the world, I use them to talk, write, understand and express my thoughts, which are not so different from yours. We are the same, I just do not regret that I could not hear and talk like you … Yes, I am a deaf person.

I’m not like you, but I’m not stupid. I can be wrong, a mistake is human, but if I’m wrong because I did not get it, and if I did not, it’s because we did not make any effort to explain or because you explained it badly, but that does not make me silly. Yes, I am a deaf person.

I can speak. Some can understand me. Others … no. Sometimes it’s hard to understand, in the same way that you do not understand the Chinese. Yes, I am a deaf person.

I mean, in my way, I mean, in my own way. But I do the same things you do: Study, work, travel, driving, games, sports, getting married and becoming a parent or scientist … in fact, I have a life, and I run like you! Yes, I am a deaf person.

I’m as deaf as you can imagine, and I’m very proud to be deaf.

 

Ich bin gehörlos.

Ich wache jeden Tag mit einem Vibrationsalarm oder einem Lichtsignal auf, was manchmal unerträglich ist. Ja, ich bin gehörlos.

Ich schaue Fernsehen, nicht mit Ton, sondern mit Untertiteln oder einem Gebärdensprach-Dolmetscher. Ja, ich bin gehörlos.

Auf meinen Wegen, in der Mittagspause, alleine mit meinen Freunden auf Facebook, am Telefon oder der persönlichen Begegnung … mein Handy ist meine Rettung. Ja, ich bin gehörlos.

Ich höre nicht den Klang des Windes, das Gezwitscher der Vögel, den Regen oder eine Melodie, aber was ich nicht mit meinen Ohren genießen kann, das sehen meine Augen. Sie sind meine wertvollsten Körperteile. Sie sind die Fenster meiner Seele. Und meine Hände sind die Brücke, die mich mit der Welt verbinden. Ich benutze sie, um zu sprechen, zu schreiben, zu verstehen und meine Gedanken auszudrücken, die sich nicht allzu sehr von Deinen unterscheiden. Wir sind alle gleich, und ich bedauere nicht, dass ich nicht hören und sprechen kann wie Du… Ja, ich bin gehörlos.

Ich bin nicht genauso wie Du, aber ich bin nicht dumm. Ich kann mich irren, Fehler sind menschlich. Aber wenn ich mich irre, weil ich etwas nicht verstanden habe, und wenn ich das nicht verstanden habe, weil wir uns nicht genügend Mühe gegeben haben, es zu erklären oder die Erklärung schlecht war, dann macht mich dies noch nicht zu einer dummen Person. Ja, ich bin gehörlos.

Ich kann sprechen. Manche verstehen mich, andere nicht… Manchmal ist es schwierig, mich zu verstehen, so wie es für Dich schwierig ist, Chinesisch zu verstehen.  Ja, ich bin gehörlos.

Ich lebe auf meine Weise, ich meine, auf meine ganz eigene Weise. Aber ich mache die gleichen Dinge wie Du auch: studieren, arbeiten, reisen, ein Auto fahren, spielen, Sport treiben, heiraten, und Vater werden oder ein Wissenschaftler… Ja, in der Tat, ich habe ein Leben und ich führe es wie Du Deines. Ja, ich bin gehörlos.

Ich bin so gehörlos, wie Du Dir nur vorstellen kannst, und ich bin stolz darauf!

Loran Xuereb (maltesischer Gruppenleiter, Vorsitzender der Gehörlosenorganisation in Malta)

Usher Syndrome

What is the Usher Syndrome?

The Usher Syndrome the most common condition affecting vision and hearing as well. It is a rare genetic disorder which is the main cause of deaf-blindness.

What are the symptoms of Usher Syndrome:

Symptoms of Usher Syndrome include:
– deafness or increasing loss of hearing
– Retinitis Pigmentosa
– difficulties in balancing
– tunnel vision

Usher Syndrome is a various condition in that the degree of severity is not connected to what clinical type someone has.

Usher Syndrome is genetic. It is a recessive condition, meaning that both parents must carry the gene in order for a person to get this syndrome.

Normal vision vs. Usher Syndrome

Usher Syndrome can divide into three clinical types:

Usher type 1

People with Usher Syndrome type 1 are born profoundly deaf and begin to lose their vision in the first years of life. They are impaired in their ability to learn how to walk.

 

 

Usher type 2

People with Usher Syndrome type 2 have hearing loss. They do not seem to have noticeable problems with balance and begin losing vision in the second decade of life.

 

Usher type 3

People with Usher Syndrome type 3 are not born deaf. They experience a gradual loss of hearing and vision.

 

What to expect from Usher Syndrome

Nowadays Usher Syndrome is not a curable disorder. The best treatment includes early diagnosis, so that educational programs can start as soon as possible. Treatment may also include the use of hearing aids, assistive listening devices, implants, other communication methods, orientation and mobility training and low vision or Braille services.

 

Highlights from our trip to Berlin

This short video shows some of the best parts of our day out in Berlin. We visited many different places and used different forms of transport to get around the city. We visited the Museum of Photograpy and enjoyed a guided tour, if you visit Berlin I recommend that you also try and visit this museum as it is very interesting. After the tour we split into two different groups with one group visiting the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichtag (German Parliament), Alexanderplatz, the Holocaust Memorial and Potsdamerplatz while the second group visited the Berlin Wall Memorial. Stefan explained aspects of the site to the group and then participants were able to visit the exhibition about the wall. After enjoying learning new things we were allowed some free time to relax in a cafe and buy souveniers of our trip to the city.

 

Thursday, 22.02.2018

Another day in Hirschuch began after the trip to Berlin, everyone semed to be still tired but happy. The tasty breakfast helped. The programme started with the presentation of the posters we created on Tuesday. The presentations were emotional and there were some very interesting discussions. Then we had a short outdoor activity based on self reflection. After that we devided into two groups and had to discuss in a friendly way the positive and negative perspectives towards the other group. After those reflection activities we had lunch break. Some where wiriting the blog, some were playing human table soccer and others were preparing the culture evering. In the afternoon we started with discussing the topic “How to make a viral video”. After we gave our oppinons we saw some videos. Then Stefan showed us, how to make a video in the movie maker. We split again into two mixed groups. Our task was to plan a promotional videos, but we didn’t finish it before it was time for the national reflection groups and dinner. The evening programme started with the cultural evening of the hearing people. They made some funny sketches, then we saw the videos of Malta and some ones from the first day. We also played several funny games. Everyone had fun in the evening.

 

First Day in Hirschluch

 

We started our day exploring the venue with a very funny photo rallye. In this picture you see, how we presented our outcomes.

 

Then we formed four groups and thought of tasks for the others.Below you see, how it ended…

 

We had fun, fulfilling the tasks. Maybe you can guess, what we had to do (see in first and fourth picture)

 

In the video you see, how we hid little notes, where we wrote down the tasks for the other groups. We enjoyed collecting them. As you can see, everybody wanted to be first. Some impressions of the fullfillment of the tasks is added into the video.