Realization

I was a naughty child. Not in a bratty way, more so in a tantrum for hours kind of way. It started when I was around 2 and didn't stop until I was close to 11. My behaviour was a mystery to everyone. Both my sisters were well behaved. I was contrary child and extremely strong willed.

(Im the middle one, with my neighbour Ben and older sister Bec)

I was put on every diet you could imagine - lactose free, gluten free, no yellow foods, no this, no that. My tantrums were so bad that the people that lived in the house behind my parents sold up and moved. Yes, I was that loud and annoying. The last week of every term at school, teachers requested that I be kept home as my behaviour disrupted the class.

(Front row, third from the left)

I saw just about every doctor in Brisbane trying to figure out if there was ANYTHING in the world that could be causing me to act out the way I did. Hearing tests, blood tests, behaviour tests, tests for ADHD and the likes. Nothing was ever found.

That is until my parents sent to to a psychologist, who did a few simple tests and found out I had an Auditory  Memory Disorder. Basically, my brain could not remember instructions and information I was told got scrambled. Its something I still struggle with sometimes even now. With the right intervention (teachers providing one step instructions as well as written material) my behaviour changed. The girl that could tantrum for hours was finally gone and after years of disruption peace was finally restored to our household.

So, what does this have to do with Aaliyah? Aaliyah is a strong willed child and is like me in so many ways. Imagine if you couldn't distinguish where a sound was coming from. Imagine your balance always being a little bit off?

Do me a favour. Cover one ear with your hand and block of your canal. How does it feel to have muffled sound on one side? Strange isn't it. Now try and imagine that there is NO sound coming from that ear. NOTHING. EVER.

And that friends, is the world that Aaliyah lives in. One that turns a shopping centre from a place of adventure into a place of unknowns. One where if her hearing ear gets blocked during a bath, renders her completely without sound. One that trying to distinguish where the car is coming from when trying to cross the road becomes that much harder. One where trying to understand what someone is saying to you in a crowded room becomes near impossible.

So often I forget about Aaliyah's "impairment". And then she acts out in the shopping centre carpark, and I tell her off, forgetting what a scary place it must be for her. Telling her of for not listening, when in reality, there is a lot of background noise, her hearing aid battery has run out and I'm in a different room. Explains why sometimes she acts out. Not out of disobedience or defiance, just out of frustration.

And that is why we are working so hard to give Aaliyah what you and I take for granted. x