All Alone (Except for My Dog Friday)

Blatchford soon learned, however, that regaining her hearing was a journey of discovery. Gradually, the sound soup gave way to the ability to hoar some sentences without speechreading. The sound of her own voice surprised her, and she could hear her grandchildren speak. The thrill of new things heard on one ear trip to a friend's house moved her show more to "try out my first yodel as I pass by your house." When asked by others if they should receive an implant, she cautions that it is an individual decision that each deaf person must make. For her, it was the right decision. Claire H. Blatchford, now retired, taught writing and art to deaf children at the Clarke Schools for Bearing and Speech in Northampton, MA, and was also a writer for their department of Mainstream Services. show less