Life of a Disabled Person

By: Ethan Yu

I know I am not an ordinary person. Yeah, sure. I eat ice cream and play Roblox Bedwars like a regular child. But the problem is my ears. Everything is wrong with my ears. They are down on my cheeks. Not to mention how floppy they are. They are like elephant ears and how they flap when they move. My ears are unusually closed by the floppy skins and it's really hard to hear. Even sitting at the front of the class, I still have trouble listening. Have you ever tried to listen in the water? That’s how it feels like. I know I have to get hearing aids. I’ve seen them. The normal hearing aids won’t work. They don’t fit inside my ears. Even if they fit, it won’t make any difference. I still will hear the white noise. So I have to get the gigantic, weird hearing aids that make me look like Galactus. Great.

I’m quite used to the way people look at me. They think I don’t see them taking quick looks at me. Whispers always follow me. As I said, I’m used to it.

A few days before something changed my life, it all started with Mom bringing me to the ear doctor to get me fitted for my new hearing aids. As the doctor put it on, I looked angrily at my reflection. ‘Look at me Mom! I’ll look like Galactus!’

‘Which one is Galactus?’ Mom said.

‘Galactus? As in the Galactus, the cosmic entity who consumes planets to sustain his life force?’ said the doctor.

‘I still don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Mom said. At the same moment, I said ‘Yeah!’

‘But the hearing aids don’t even work!’ I said angrily.

‘Wait, buddy. I haven’t even turned them on yet!’

‘I don’t think it will make any difference!’ I said.

And he turned them on.

How do I explain the feeling of it? Imagine being stuck inside water your whole life. Then someone pulled you out of the water. That’s how it felt.

‘Honey, how does it feel?’

I smiled and said ‘Mommy, you don’t have to shout anymore.’

Mom looked relieved. ‘Say thank you to Dr Simpson, John.’

‘Thank you, Dr Simpson.’ I said.

At school, people have been nice to me considering the new hearing aids I start wearing. A friend of mine says I have bionic hearing. My dearest friends also give me a photo of Galactus but his face was mine. Suddenly, I realise that having hearing aids isn’t that bad after all.

Today at school, when I am having lunch, A random guy in a wheelchair with really skinny and short legs comes to my lunch table and asked if he could sit there. So, I say, ‘Sure! No one is sitting here anyway.’

Then, we have our lunch in awkward silence. Finally, the guy decides to break the silence. ‘So, what’s your name?’

‘John.’

‘Cool name. My name’s Justin by the way.’

‘Do you get treated differently from other people?’ Justin gets surprised when I ask him about it.

‘I don’t want to mention it.’ Justin looked away. ‘Nice headphones, BTW.’ Justin said, changing the subject.

‘Oh, these?’ I say, pointing to my hearing aids. ‘These are hearing aids.’ I removed my hearing aids. Justin is surprised by my ears. I can’t blame him for being surprised. Just like my mom was when I was born.

‘You are disabled too?’ He said softly. ‘So that’s why no one sits with you!’

‘No, no, no, no.’ I laughed. ‘They have just finished already! It’s just slow to eat with these hearing aids on. And having hearing aids is better because no one can see my ears.’

‘Oh.’ Justin says. He sounds envious. ‘I don’t have any friends. Everybody teases my legs’

‘You could sit at this lunch table every day,’ I suggest. ‘You could be friends with our group!’

‘Uh, hard pass. Mixing friends doesn't always work out. But I’ll try. Anyway, do you know who is the beefy boy behind you with a mole on his nose who is staring daggers at us right now?’

I jerk my head to where Justin was pointing. Then I realise it's just Caiden staring at us. So I shrug and say, ‘Oh that's just Caiden. He always stares at my table. But if you see him coming to you at lunch break, run. He’s one of the bullies who bully me.’

Just then, the lunch bell rings, so I say to Justin, ‘Bye Justin! See you tomorrow!’

‘Bye, John!’ Smiles Justin. He has never felt so many mixed emotions rushing into his heart.

Two weeks later at school, I have to do a “number 2”, so I excuse myself and go out of the toilets. As soon as I step foot inside the toilets, I see a boy injecting something into his body with a needle. Then, I hear Caiden’s voice bullying someone. ‘Hey, Punk! Whatcha taking there!? Are you taking drugs?!’

A small, trembling voice replies, ‘N-n-n-o. It w-wa-was my m-me-di-dicine. Yo-you know I have diabetes!’

Straight after the kid says it, Caiden smiles evilly and jeers, ‘EVERYBODY! ISSAC WAS TAKING DRUGS!‘

Ignoring my urge to go to the toilet, I rush out, followed by Issac, and say, ‘What Caiden said was fake! Issac wasn’t taking drugs! He was taking shots for diabetes!’ A gasp echoes through all the students.

I wait for the shock to settle in, then walk away.

Issac looks at my back and murmurs, ‘No one has ever stood for me in a long time.’

One week later, on a sunny Monday morning, I come to school early, which is rare since I live very close to school and I only take 5 minutes to “fly” to school. So nobody likes me who needs to wake up so early as long I can “teleport” to school.

BEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! An ear-splitting sound emitting from my hearing aids surprises me so much, I cry out in pain and clutch my hearing aids. I fumble for the ‘volume down button, and the sound fades before I could turn the volume down. Before the sound could go again, I turn it down.

I go to check what the commotion is, and it is a girl holding the leash of a dog. The dog is barking at the security guard, and the security guard is shaking his head. When I get closer, I notice that the girl’s eyes are blank and unseeing.

I step forward and say to the guard, ‘Bob, you are making this worse! Can’t you see?! The girl can’t see! She needs her guide dog to help her!’

Bob shakes his head and says, ‘I can’t let any animals into the school campus.’

‘Please let me in. I just want to go to the school office!’ Says the girl.

‘Trust me, Bob!’

‘Fine. But I will go with you.’

‘Can I take my dog, Gildie?’ Says the girl.

‘Fine.’ Bob scowls. Then he mutters, ‘You kids always so demanding.’’ Bob has a habit of adding ‘you kids’ in front of every sentence.

‘What’s your name?’ I ask the girl.

‘Olivia.’

‘Mine’s John.’

We walk in silence for the rest of the time.

Finally, we are at the primary office.

Bob knocks on the door and Mr Talle, the Head of Primary, opens the door. He looks at Olivia and his expression goes from confusion to certainty. He looks at Olivia and then says, ‘May I have a little chat with OIivia for a second?’

So Bob and I go out. We wait for about 5 minutes, and then Olivia comes out, beaming. ‘I got registered!’ Says Olivia gleefully.

‘Really?! Nice!’ I say, matching her excited tone. Maybe I could get her to join my group of disabled people! The idea just came to me when I was waiting with Bob. But then Olivia’s cheerfulness only lasts for 3 seconds. Immediately notice, and rush to her side. ‘What’s wrong? I thought you were really happy that you could get into the school!’

‘Don’t get me wrong. I am happy that I can go to this school. It’s just that I can’t have Gildie with me. There is a school rule that animals are forbidden to roam the school campus. But the school will provide a caretaker who will guide me everywhere I go. But Gildie and I have a special bond. She makes me feel safe and calm. Now the school just assigns a random guy to guide me?!’ By now Olivia is crying. These big, ugly unstoppable tears are sliding down her cheek.

‘You know, I could try to talk to Mr Talle to make an exception for you! I was actually planning to make a group of disabled people! Maybe you could join!’

‘Really?!’

‘Yeah!’ Just then, the bell rang. ‘I’ll see you at break!’

‘Bye, John!’

At break time, I find everyone and I propose to create a group called “Don’t Dis My Ability”. They all agree. We decide to make the meetings at Wednesday lunch time outside the All-Purpose room. After a few meetings, We plan a whole speech with the principal and each of us saying one point.

At Mr Talle’s office, my group was all sitting together in front of Mr Talle’s table.

‘I heard you guys were creating a group supporting the disabled.’ Starts Mr Talle.

‘Yeah, Mr Talle! We found out that there are a lot of holes of the life around a disabled person. Each one of us have something to bring up. I speak for all the students who are suffering severe hearing loss. Even with all different kinds of gadgets, they still can’t hear well and uses lip-reading and guesses. I’m hoping that the school can install Communication Access Realtime Translation for every single student who has severe hearing loss. The system can display the words on the screen when the teachers speak.’ I say.

‘Good point well made.’ Mr Talle responds.

‘Mr Talle, you know service animals not only help their owners but also are proof that their could be a bond between anything. Service animals are trained to not bite people. It is also an education that animals can be so loyal to their owners. I stand out for all the disabled who needs service animals and strongly recommend that all service animals must not be separated for their owners.’ Says Olivia.

‘I speak for all those students who needs privacy for their daily medical treatment like me. They should have a private spot to do the treatment like getting shots or allow them to have special privilege according to their special needs like me, taking snack from time to time in class.’ Issac pitched in.

‘I am an alone person. I always feel left out. John is my first friend and he lights my life.’ Justin looks at me gratefully. ‘I’m hoping that the school could organize more activities for all students, both disabled and normal people. I hope everyone has a chance to meet more kind and sincere person like John.’

‘I like all your suggestions. I will take them all into consideration.’ Says Mr Talle.

From now on, the staff are changing… The students are changing… The school is changing.. In a better way.