Though Deaf and Blind, I Found Security/AS TOLD BY JANICE ADAMS

From birth, I was virtually deaf, yet I learned to manage in a hearing world. Then, while in college,  I was shocked when I was told that I would become blind. My well-meaning college counselor gave me and article about living without sight and sound.  Immediatedly, my eyes caught the phrase that those both deaf and blind are the loneliest people in the world. I burst into tears.


I WAS born in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S.A., only child of Dale and Phyllis Den Hartog. Little did my parents realize that both of them were carriers of a genetic condition known as Ushers's syndrome, which is characterized by congenital deafness with progressive vision loss. 

My parents did not at first suspect any problems with me. Perhaps this was because I had a little residual hearing of low frequencies and would sometimes respond  to sounds.  However, when I did not develop speech, they knew something was seriously wrong. The doctor finally diagnosed my deafness when I was about the age of three.

The news devastated my parents. Yet, they were determined that I receive the best possible  education. I was put in an excellent preschool for the hard-of-hearing. But since I was nearly deaf, I failed miserably. My frustration was sometimes displayed by banging my head against the wall.

Next time: Though Deaf and Blind, I Found Security/AS TOLD BY JANICE ADAMS -Sent Away to a Special School

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