Post by Hollybrry82182 on Mar 3, 2005 16:23:06 GMT -5
Okay, here's my story....it's a looooong one!
My name is Holly Sarah M....I was born in Hartford, Connecticut. I was a cute lil baby About the time I should have been starting to say my first word, my parents noticed that I didn't seem to hear as well as I probably should. I didn't seem like I was going to start talking and didn't ever really babble like babies do. They had my hearing tested and it turns out I couldn't hear anything in my right ear and only some in my left. I was fitted with a hearing-aid in my left ear. I've worn one ever since.
When I was one month and 9 years old, my brother, Tim was born. I thought it was really cool! He didn't have any hearing loss. Then, a year and seven months later, my sister, Amy was born. The doctors said that she would be a complete vegetable, meaning she would be able to hear, see, walk, or even feed herself. Well, she proved them wrong on all accounts except the hearing. She was profoundly (totally) deaf. My parents enrolled her in the American School for the Deaf as soon as they could, I think she was eighteen months old when she started school there.
When it was time for me to start school, my parents didn't know whether I should be put into a school for the deaf or what. Someone said they should put me into a special education class. They did that for nursery school. (We were in New Britain, CT) Turns out that I was the only girl in the class with some boys who had behavior problems. I don't remember this (maybe I blocked it out), but my parents have told me that they had to take me out of the class because after a few weeks, the teacher let them know that the boys were hitting me. For the rest of nursery school I went to a regular place.
For kindergarten, I went to a catholic school. I wouldn't say a word! I remember being in the principal's office because I wouldn't answer the teacher when she asked me a question that required more than a nod or shake of the head. My parents also found out and quickly straightened out the situation where I wouldn't get milk and a snack along with the other kids because I wouldn't ask for it.
They then put me into public school (this time we were in Winsted, CT). My first grade teacher almost held me back a year because I wouldn't talk much. Since I was doing really good in my schoolwork, my parents talked her into letting me go on to the second grade.
I really liked my second grade teacher, Mrs. Michaud and I think she probably got me to talk at least a little bit more. After that, I would respond when someone talked to me. I still didn't initiate anything though! In fifth and sixth grade, we were living in Southington, CT. We actually went to the same school that my dad attended when he was a kid
All through elementary school, I had a couple of friends in school, but never talked to or did anything with them outside of school except for in sixth grade when some girls I hung around with at school were having an end of the year pool party. It was a lot of fun, but that's the last I saw of them.
We moved to Bristol, CT that summer. A couple that my parents knew from my dad's work lived in the neighborhood and had 2 boys (trouble makers). Their mom introduced me to this girl Amanda. We ended up being friends right away. She introduced me to a bunch of other kids in the neigborhood. I was really shy of course, but eventually could talk with all of them. Middle school was actually pretty kool. I had a couple friends in school that I just talked to in school. I also saw a lot of Amanda and the rest of my friends from our neighborhood at lunch and after school or in flex period (the last 20 minutes of the day we got to do activities that we picked at the beginning of each sememster like line dancing, roller hockey, computer class, art class etc.). I also made 2 more really good friends in school, Jeannie and Stephanie. I would sleep over their houses every weekend and at Amanda's during the week since we lived right next door practically.
My grades in middle school did slip a little bit. It was because I never wanted to do my homework. I was always outside with everyone playing kickball, baseball, pickle or our favorite, hide-n-seek (which we would ONLY play in the pitch dark. Because of my grades, for my first year of hs, my parents sent me to St. Paul Catholic hs (even though by that time, I wasn't catholic anymore, I had become a baptist). I really hated it there and didn't make any friends. Most of the kids there were stuck up rich kids. Towards the end of the year I did manage to become friends with one girl, but I had already convinced my parents to let me go back to public school for 10th grade, so when school ended, we didn't keep in touch.
I was soooooo glad to be back in public school. Only one of my friends from my neighborhood was in the same grade as me, but he was in the advanced classes and I didn't see him much. I did get to see a lot of the kids I had known in middle school. They were still just 'school friends' though. While I was in high school, I hated it and thought I had NO friends and was a dork and everything, but looking back, I may not have had too many friends, and could have talked more in school than I did, but I did have some really good close friends. Granted just a few, but that's better than a LOT of not close friends, I think.
My name is Holly Sarah M....I was born in Hartford, Connecticut. I was a cute lil baby About the time I should have been starting to say my first word, my parents noticed that I didn't seem to hear as well as I probably should. I didn't seem like I was going to start talking and didn't ever really babble like babies do. They had my hearing tested and it turns out I couldn't hear anything in my right ear and only some in my left. I was fitted with a hearing-aid in my left ear. I've worn one ever since.
When I was one month and 9 years old, my brother, Tim was born. I thought it was really cool! He didn't have any hearing loss. Then, a year and seven months later, my sister, Amy was born. The doctors said that she would be a complete vegetable, meaning she would be able to hear, see, walk, or even feed herself. Well, she proved them wrong on all accounts except the hearing. She was profoundly (totally) deaf. My parents enrolled her in the American School for the Deaf as soon as they could, I think she was eighteen months old when she started school there.
When it was time for me to start school, my parents didn't know whether I should be put into a school for the deaf or what. Someone said they should put me into a special education class. They did that for nursery school. (We were in New Britain, CT) Turns out that I was the only girl in the class with some boys who had behavior problems. I don't remember this (maybe I blocked it out), but my parents have told me that they had to take me out of the class because after a few weeks, the teacher let them know that the boys were hitting me. For the rest of nursery school I went to a regular place.
For kindergarten, I went to a catholic school. I wouldn't say a word! I remember being in the principal's office because I wouldn't answer the teacher when she asked me a question that required more than a nod or shake of the head. My parents also found out and quickly straightened out the situation where I wouldn't get milk and a snack along with the other kids because I wouldn't ask for it.
They then put me into public school (this time we were in Winsted, CT). My first grade teacher almost held me back a year because I wouldn't talk much. Since I was doing really good in my schoolwork, my parents talked her into letting me go on to the second grade.
I really liked my second grade teacher, Mrs. Michaud and I think she probably got me to talk at least a little bit more. After that, I would respond when someone talked to me. I still didn't initiate anything though! In fifth and sixth grade, we were living in Southington, CT. We actually went to the same school that my dad attended when he was a kid
All through elementary school, I had a couple of friends in school, but never talked to or did anything with them outside of school except for in sixth grade when some girls I hung around with at school were having an end of the year pool party. It was a lot of fun, but that's the last I saw of them.
We moved to Bristol, CT that summer. A couple that my parents knew from my dad's work lived in the neighborhood and had 2 boys (trouble makers). Their mom introduced me to this girl Amanda. We ended up being friends right away. She introduced me to a bunch of other kids in the neigborhood. I was really shy of course, but eventually could talk with all of them. Middle school was actually pretty kool. I had a couple friends in school that I just talked to in school. I also saw a lot of Amanda and the rest of my friends from our neighborhood at lunch and after school or in flex period (the last 20 minutes of the day we got to do activities that we picked at the beginning of each sememster like line dancing, roller hockey, computer class, art class etc.). I also made 2 more really good friends in school, Jeannie and Stephanie. I would sleep over their houses every weekend and at Amanda's during the week since we lived right next door practically.
My grades in middle school did slip a little bit. It was because I never wanted to do my homework. I was always outside with everyone playing kickball, baseball, pickle or our favorite, hide-n-seek (which we would ONLY play in the pitch dark. Because of my grades, for my first year of hs, my parents sent me to St. Paul Catholic hs (even though by that time, I wasn't catholic anymore, I had become a baptist). I really hated it there and didn't make any friends. Most of the kids there were stuck up rich kids. Towards the end of the year I did manage to become friends with one girl, but I had already convinced my parents to let me go back to public school for 10th grade, so when school ended, we didn't keep in touch.
I was soooooo glad to be back in public school. Only one of my friends from my neighborhood was in the same grade as me, but he was in the advanced classes and I didn't see him much. I did get to see a lot of the kids I had known in middle school. They were still just 'school friends' though. While I was in high school, I hated it and thought I had NO friends and was a dork and everything, but looking back, I may not have had too many friends, and could have talked more in school than I did, but I did have some really good close friends. Granted just a few, but that's better than a LOT of not close friends, I think.