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I read bedtime stories to my little brother every night for 2 years_ he was completely deaf · Martin Animations

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Speaker 1: I read bedtime stories to my little brother every night
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Speaker 1: for two years before learning he was completely deaf. It
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Speaker 1: started the night mom and dad brought Liam home from
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Speaker 1: the hospital when I was eight years old. He was
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Speaker 1: this tiny red-faced thing that cried constantly, and I remember
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Speaker 1: feeling annoyed that everyone was making such a big deal
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Speaker 1: about him. Mom asked me if I wanted to help
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Speaker 1: with the baby, and I said no because I was
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Speaker 1: in the middle of reading my favorite book about dragons
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Speaker 1: and knights. But then dad pulled me aside and told
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Speaker 1: me that being a big brother was the most important
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Speaker 1: job I'd ever have, and that Liam would look up
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Speaker 1: to me for everything. he said I could teach him
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Speaker 1: things and protect him and be his best friend. Something
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Speaker 1: about the way dad said it made me feel like
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Speaker 1: I'd been given a secret mission, so I agreed to try.
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Speaker 1: That first week was chaos with mom barely sleeping and
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Speaker 1: dad taking time off work to help with feedings and
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Speaker 1: diaper changes. Liam cried so much that I started wearing
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Speaker 1: my headphones around the house just to block out the noise.
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Speaker 1: But one evening when everyone was exhausted and overwhelmed, mom
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Speaker 1: handed Liam to me while she took a shower. He
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Speaker 1: was fussing and turning red, and I didn't know what
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Speaker 1: to do. I sat in the rocking chair in his
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Speaker 1: nursery and and just started reading out loud from the
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Speaker 1: dragon book I'd been holding. Within minutes, Liam stopped crying
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Speaker 1: and just stared at me with these huge dark eyes.
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Speaker 1: I kept reading even though I knew he couldn't understand
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Speaker 1: the words, and he stayed calm the entire time. When
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Speaker 1: mom came back, she found us like that, and actually cried.
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Speaker 1: She said I was a natural big brother, and that
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Speaker 1: Liam clearly loved my voice already. After that night, it
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Speaker 1: became our routine. Every evening before Liam's bedtime, I'd sit
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Speaker 1: in the rocking chair and read to him for at
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Speaker 1: least 30 minutes. At first, I just read whatever books
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Speaker 1: I was into, fantasy adventures and mystery stories that were
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Speaker 1: way too advanced for a baby, but Liam seemed to
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Speaker 1: love it regardless. He'd focus on my face with this
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Speaker 1: intense concentration, occasionally reaching up to grab at my shirt
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Speaker 1: or touch my cheek. Mom said babies responded to the
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Speaker 1: sound of voices and the rhythm of speech, that it
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Speaker 1: helped their brain development, even if they couldn't understand the
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Speaker 1: actual words yet. As Liam got older and could sit
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Speaker 1: up on his own, I started picking books specifically for him.
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Speaker 1: Picture books with animals and colors, simple stories about trucks
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Speaker 1: and trains. I'd show him the pictures while reading. pointing
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Speaker 1: at different things and making sound effects. When the book
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Speaker 1: had a cow, I'd moo loudly. When there was a train,
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Speaker 1: I'd make the whistle noise. Liam would laugh and clap
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Speaker 1: his hands, sometimes trying to grab the book from me
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Speaker 1: to look at the pictures closer. Those reading sessions became
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Speaker 1: my favorite part of the day, this special time that
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Speaker 1: was just for the two of us. Mom and Dad
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Speaker 1: would peek in sometimes and smile at us, but they
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Speaker 1: mostly left us alone. It was our thing, our bond.
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Speaker 1: By the time Liam turned one, he still wasn't talking
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Speaker 1: or even babbling much, but the pediatrician said some kids
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Speaker 1: were just slower with language development. Mom seemed worried during
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Speaker 1: those doctor visits, asking lots of questions about milestones and
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Speaker 1: developmental delays. But the doctor kept reassuring her that boys
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Speaker 1: often talked later than girls, and that there was a
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Speaker 1: wide range of normal. I didn't think much about it
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Speaker 1: because Liam seemed perfectly fine to me. He was happy
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Speaker 1: and interactive, always smiling and laughing during our reading time.
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Speaker 1: He'd gotten really good at turning pages, and he'd bounce
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Speaker 1: excitedly when I picked up one of his favorite books.
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Speaker 1: We had this one about a caterpillar that ate through
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Speaker 1: different foods, and Liam would try to poke his finger
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Speaker 1: through the holes in the pages every single time. When
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Speaker 1: his first birthday came around, we had a small party
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Speaker 1: with family and a few of mom's friends who had
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Speaker 1: kids around Liam's age. I remember watching the other babies,
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Speaker 1: noticing how some of them were saying mama or dada,
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Speaker 1: or at least making more sounds than Liam did. One
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Speaker 1: toddler was even putting two words together. But when it
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Speaker 1: came time for cake, Liam was the happiest kid there,
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Speaker 1: smashing his face into the frosting and laughing silently in
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Speaker 1: that way he did. I didn't see anything wrong with him.
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Speaker 1: He was perfect. The reading routine continued through Liam's second year.
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Speaker 1: By then, I'd started fourth grade and had more homework,
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Speaker 1: but I never skipped our bedtime stories. It was the
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Speaker 1: one part of my day I looked forward to, no
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Speaker 1: matter how stressful school got. Liam had developed these little
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Speaker 1: rituals during our reading time that I found adorable. He'd
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Speaker 1: climb into my lap and pat the book to tell
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Speaker 1: me he was ready. When I got to his favorite pages,
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Speaker 1: he'd put his hand on my chest, almost like he
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Speaker 1: was checking that I was still there. If I tried
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Speaker 1: to skip pages to finish faster, he'd frantically flip back
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Speaker 1: to the ones I'd missed. He knew these books so
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Speaker 1: well that he could tell when I was cheating. I
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Speaker 1: started noticing that Liam would watch my face constantly during
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Speaker 1: the reading. His eyes never left my mouth and expressions,
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Speaker 1: tracking every word even though I assumed he was just
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Speaker 1: fascinated by the movement. When I did different voices for characters,
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Speaker 1: making them high or low or silly, Liam would smile
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Speaker 1: or laugh. I thought he could hear the differences in
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Speaker 1: my voice and found them funny. It never occurred to
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Speaker 1: me that he might be reading my facial expressions and
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Speaker 1: emotional cues instead. Looking back now, there were so many
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Speaker 1: signs I completely missed because I didn't know what to
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Speaker 1: look for. Mom took Liam to another doctor appointment right
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Speaker 1: after he turned two. and this time she came home
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Speaker 1: looking shaken. Dad got home from work, and they went
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Speaker 1: into their bedroom to talk privately, but I could hear
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Speaker 1: Mom crying through the walls. I stood outside their door
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Speaker 1: feeling scared because I'd never heard Mom cry like that before.
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Speaker 1: These deep sobs that sounded like something was broken inside her.
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Speaker 1: When they finally came out, both their eyes were red,
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Speaker 1: and Dad's jaw was clenched in that way it got
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Speaker 1: when he was trying not to show emotion. They sat
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Speaker 1: me down at the kitchen table and told me the
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Speaker 1: doctor had some concerns about Liam's development. specifically his lack
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Speaker 1: of speech, and his responses to sound. They'd scheduled an
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Speaker 1: appointment with a specialist called an audiologist for the following week.
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Speaker 1: I asked what that meant, and Dad explained it was
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Speaker 1: a doctor who checked hearing. My stomach dropped because even
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Speaker 1: at nine years old, I understood what they were implying.
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Speaker 1: You think Liam can't hear? I asked, and Mom nodded
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Speaker 1: while wiping her eyes. We don't know for sure yet,
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Speaker 1: but the pediatrician noticed that Liam doesn't respond to sounds
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Speaker 1: behind him or react to loud noises the way he should.
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Speaker 1: There are some other signs that suggest he might have
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Speaker 1: a hearing impairment. The words, hearing impairment, sounded so clinical
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Speaker 1: and scary. I immediately thought about all our reading sessions,
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Speaker 1: wondering if they'd been pointless this whole time if Liam
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Speaker 1: couldn't actually hear the stories. That night, I went to
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Speaker 1: read to Liam as usual, but everything felt different. I
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Speaker 1: kept testing him without meaning to, clapping behind his head
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Speaker 1: or dropping a book to see if he'd turn toward
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Speaker 1: the sound. He didn't react to any of it. He
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Speaker 1: just sat in my lap waiting for me to start reading,
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Speaker 1: patting the book like always. When I finally began the story,
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Speaker 1: Liam settled in with his hand on my chest and
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Speaker 1: his eyes locked on my face. I tried to focus
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Speaker 1: on the words, but my voice kept cracking because I
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Speaker 1: was suddenly crying. If Liam really couldn't hear, did that
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Speaker 1: mean all these nights of reading to him had been
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Speaker 1: for nothing? Had I been talking to myself for two
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Speaker 1: years while he just tolerated it because he liked being held?
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Speaker 1: The thought made me feel stupid and sad in a
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Speaker 1: way I couldn't fully explain. When I finished the story,
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Speaker 1: Liam kissed my cheek the way he always did before
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Speaker 1: bed and I held him tighter than usual. He felt
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Speaker 1: so small and fragile in my arms and I was
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Speaker 1: terrified about what the audiologist might tell us. The week
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Speaker 1: leading up to that appointment was the longest of my life.
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Speaker 1: I found myself watching Liam constantly, looking for signs I'd
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Speaker 1: somehow missed. I tested him with sounds when mom wasn't watching,
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Speaker 1: calling his name from behind or shaking a rattle next
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Speaker 1: to his ear. He never turned toward any of it
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Speaker 1: unless he could see me moving in his peripheral vision first.
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Speaker 1: The audiologist appointment was scheduled for a Thursday morning, and
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Speaker 1: mom pulled me out of school to come along. She
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Speaker 1: said it was important for the whole family to be there,
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Speaker 1: to understand what Liam needed. The clinic was in a
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Speaker 1: medical building downtown, and the waiting room had toys scattered
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Speaker 1: around for kids. Liam immediately went for a set of
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Speaker 1: blocks and started stacking them, completely content to play while
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Speaker 1: we waited. When they called us back, the audiologist was
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Speaker 1: a woman named Dr. Patricia Ashford, who had kind eyes
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Speaker 1: and spoke in a calm voice that somehow made me
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Speaker 1: feel worse instead of better. She explained they'd be doing
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Speaker 1: several tests to measure Liam's hearing ability, including something called
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Speaker 1: an ABR test that would check the electrical responses in
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Speaker 1: his auditory nerve. Some of the tests would require Liam
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Speaker 1: to be very still or even sedated, which scared Mom
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Speaker 1: so much that Dad had to hold her hand the
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Speaker 1: entire time Dr. Ashford explained the procedures. The first test
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Speaker 1: was simple, just Dr. Ashford making various sounds and watching
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Speaker 1: to see if Liam responded. She used a bell, a whistle,
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Speaker 1: and her voice at different volumes and frequencies. Liam didn't
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Speaker 1: react to any of them unless he was looking directly
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Speaker 1: at her face. She pulled out a toy that made
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Speaker 1: a loud siren sound and activated it right next to
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Speaker 1: Liam's ear. Nothing. Not even a flinch. Dr. Ashford's expression
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Speaker 1: grew more serious as the testing continued. She brought out
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Speaker 1: special headphones and tried to get Liam to indicate when
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Speaker 1: he heard tones, but he was too young to understand
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Speaker 1: the game. Finally, She set up the ABR test, which
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Speaker 1: required Liam to be very still, so they gave him
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Speaker 1: a mild sedative that made him drowsy. They attached electrodes
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Speaker 1: to his head and played sounds while measuring his brain's
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Speaker 1: electrical responses. Mom held my hand so tight during this
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Speaker 1: test that my fingers went numb, but I didn't pull away.
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Speaker 1: We watched the computer screen showing wavy lines that meant
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Speaker 1: nothing to me, but Dr. Ashford's face told me everything
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Speaker 1: I needed to know. After about 40 minutes, she removed
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Speaker 1: the electrodes and let Liam wake up naturally from the sedative.
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Speaker 1: We went back to her office while Liam dozed in
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Speaker 1: Mom's arms. and Dr. Ashford pulled up results on her
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Speaker 1: computer screen. I'm very sorry to tell you this, she began,
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Speaker 1: and I felt like the floor disappeared beneath my chair.
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Speaker 1: Liam has profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. In simpler terms,
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Speaker 1: he's completely deaf in both ears. The ABR test showed
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Speaker 1: no response at any frequency or volume level, which indicates
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Speaker 1: the damage is in the inner ear or auditory nerve.
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Speaker 1: Mom started crying immediately, and Dad put his arm around
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Speaker 1: her shoulders while trying to keep his own composure. I
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Speaker 1: sat there frozen, unable to process what I'd just heard,
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Speaker 1: completely deaf. not hard of hearing or partially deaf, but
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Speaker 1: completely unable to hear anything at all, Dr. Ashford gave
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Speaker 1: us tissues and waited patiently for Mom to collect herself
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Speaker 1: before continuing. She explained that Liam's deafness was likely congenital,
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Speaker 1: meaning he'd been born with it. Sometimes it was genetic,
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Speaker 1: sometimes caused by infections during pregnancy or complications at birth.
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Speaker 1: They'd need to do more tests to determine the specific cause,
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Speaker 1: but that wouldn't change the reality of his condition. The
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Speaker 1: good news, Dr. Ashford said, though nothing felt good about
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Speaker 1: this situation, is that we've caught this relatively early. Liam
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Speaker 1: is at a crucial age for language development, and there
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Speaker 1: are many options available to help him communicate and thrive.
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Speaker 1: He can learn American Sign Language, and depending on the
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Speaker 1: specifics of his hearing loss, he might be a candidate
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Speaker 1: for hearing aids or even cochlear implants. She handed my
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Speaker 1: parents a thick folder of information about deaf education, early
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Speaker 1: intervention programs, and support groups for families with deaf children.
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Speaker 1: I stared at that folder like it was a bomb
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Speaker 1: that had just exploded our normal life into pieces. Everything
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Speaker 1: I thought I knew about my little brother had been wrong.
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Speaker 1: Every story I'd read to him Every song I'd sung,
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Speaker 1: every time I'd called his name or told him I
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Speaker 1: loved him, he'd heard nothing. Absolutely nothing. The drive home
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Speaker 1: was silent, except for Mom's occasional sniffles. When we pulled
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Speaker 1: into the driveway, I went straight to my room and
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Speaker 1: didn't come out for dinner. I couldn't stop thinking about
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Speaker 1: how stupid I'd been, reading to Liam every single night
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Speaker 1: like it mattered, like he was listening and learning from
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Speaker 1: the stories. I felt betrayed, even though Liam hadn't done
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Speaker 1: anything wrong. That night, Mom knocked on my door and
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Speaker 1: came in carrying Liam. It's bedtime story time, she said softly.
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Speaker 1: I shook my head and told her I didn't want
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Speaker 1: to read anymore, because what was the point if Liam
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Speaker 1: couldn't hear me? Mom sat down on my bed and
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Speaker 1: adjusted Liam in her lap so he could see both
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Speaker 1: of us. The point, she said firmly, is that Liam
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Speaker 1: loves this time with you. He might not be able
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Speaker 1: to hear the words, but he can feel your presence
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Speaker 1: and see your expressions and sense how much you care
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Speaker 1: about him. That matters more than the actual sounds. I
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Speaker 1: argued that I'd been wasting my time and his, that
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Speaker 1: all those hours could have been spent doing something useful
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Speaker 1: instead of reading stories he couldn't even hear. Mom reached
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Speaker 1: out and touched my face, making me look at her.
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Speaker 1: Do you think Liam looked forward to story time every night?
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Speaker 1: I nodded because I knew he did. He'd get excited
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Speaker 1: when he saw me pick up a book, climbing into
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Speaker 1: my lap before I even sat down. Then it wasn't
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Speaker 1: a waste. Those moments built the bond between you two.
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Speaker 1: You became his favorite person, his safe place. That's not nothing, honey.
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Speaker 1: Her words made sense, logically. But emotionally, I still felt
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Speaker 1: like I'd been living a lie. I thought we were
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Speaker 1: sharing stories and adventures, building his vocabulary and imagination through books.
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Speaker 1: Now I knew he'd just been sitting there in silence
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Speaker 1: while I talked to myself. Mom convinced me to do
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Speaker 1: the bedtime story that night, even though I was reluctant.
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Speaker 1: When I opened the book, Liam immediately perked up and
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Speaker 1: patted my chest like he always did. I started reading,
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Speaker 1: but my voice was flat and lifeless. I didn't do
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Speaker 1: the character voices or the sound effects, I just went
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Speaker 1: through the motions, turning pages mechanically. Halfway through, Liam put
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Speaker 1: his small hand on my cheek and made me look
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Speaker 1: at him. He was frowning, his eyebrows scrunched together in concern.
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Speaker 1: Then he kissed my nose, something he rarely did, and
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Speaker 1: smiled at me so genuinely that I started crying again.
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Speaker 1: This tiny two-year-old who couldn't hear a single word I
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Speaker 1: was saying was trying to comfort me because he could
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Speaker 1: sense my sadness. I pulled him closer and finished the
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Speaker 1: story properly, doing all the voices and expressions even though
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Speaker 1: I knew he couldn't hear the differences in my tone.
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Speaker 1: When I got to the end, Liam clapped his hands
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Speaker 1: the way he always did, and I realized Mom was right.
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Speaker 1: This ritual had never been about the words at all.
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Speaker 1: It had been about us spending time together, about the
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Speaker 1: connection we'd built through routine and presence. The hearing loss
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Speaker 1: didn't erase any of that. Over the next few weeks,
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Speaker 1: our house transformed into a learning center for sign language.
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Speaker 1: Mom bought books and DVDs about ASL, and we all
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Speaker 1: started taking classes at a deaf community center downtown. The
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Speaker 1: instructor was a deaf woman named Olivia who'd been signing
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Speaker 1: since childhood, and she was patient with our clumsy attempts
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Speaker 1: to form words with our hands. I was surprised by
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Speaker 1: how complex and beautiful sign language was, how it wasn't
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Speaker 1: just hand movements, but also involved facial expressions and body language.
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Speaker 1: Everything I'd been doing unconsciously while reading to Liam, the
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Speaker 1: expressions and gestures, had actually been a form of communication
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Speaker 1: he could understand. Olivia explained that deaf children often became
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Speaker 1: very good at reading faces and picking up on emotional
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Speaker 1: cues because they couldn't rely on vocal tone or inflection.
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Speaker 1: Liam had been doing that with me all along. understanding
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Speaker 1: my moods and reactions through visual information rather than auditory.
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Speaker 1: It made me see our reading sessions in a completely
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Speaker 1: new light. I hadn't been wasting my time at all.
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Speaker 1: I'd been teaching Liam about emotions and storytelling through my
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Speaker 1: expressions and body language, even if he couldn't hear the
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Speaker 1: actual words. That realization helped ease some of the guilt
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Speaker 1: and sadness I'd been carrying. I threw myself into learning
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Speaker 1: sign language with an intensity that surprised even my parents.
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Speaker 1: While they learned the basics for everyday communication, I went deeper,
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Speaker 1: studying grammar rules and practicing until my fingers ached. I
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Speaker 1: wanted to be fluent so I could really talk to
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Speaker 1: Liam so we could have actual conversations instead of just
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Speaker 1: me reading at him. Within three months, I could sign
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Speaker 1: simple stories and hold basic conversations. Liam was like a sponge,
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Speaker 1: absorbing signs faster than any of us. By his second birthday,
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Speaker 1: he knew over 50 signs and was starting to combine
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Speaker 1: them into short phrases. The first time he signed love
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Speaker 1: you to me, I cried happy tears instead of sad ones.
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Speaker 1: We modified our bedtime routine to include sign language. I'd
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Speaker 1: still read the words out loud, partly out of habit
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Speaker 1: and partly because mom said it was good for my
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Speaker 1: reading skills. But now I'd also sign keywords and show
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Speaker 1: Liam the pictures while explaining what was happening using ASL.
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Speaker 1: He'd sign questions or comments, and we'd have these amazing
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Speaker 1: discussions about the stories. He had opinions about which characters
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Speaker 1: were good or bad, and he'd predict what might happen next.
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Speaker 1: All the things I'd thought we were missing out on
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Speaker 1: were actually possible, just in a different language. One night,
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Speaker 1: about six months after the diagnosis, Liam signed something new
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Speaker 1: after our story. It was clumsy because his motor skills
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Speaker 1: were still developing, but I understood it clearly. Why you
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Speaker 1: sad before? He asked. referring to those weeks when I'd
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Speaker 1: been processing his deafness. I thought carefully about how to
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Speaker 1: explain it in terms a two-year-old could understand. I signed
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Speaker 1: back slowly, making sure he could follow. I was sad
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Speaker 1: because I didn't understand yet. I thought you couldn't hear
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Speaker 1: me so our stories didn't matter. But now I know
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Speaker 1: they always mattered. You could always see me and feel me.
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Speaker 1: That's just as good. Liam considered this seriously, then signed,
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Speaker 1: I love stories. I love you. Then he climbed out
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Speaker 1: of my lap and went to his bookshelf, pulling out
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Speaker 1: the dragon book I'd been reading the very first night
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Speaker 1: I ever read to him. This one, he signed, bringing
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Speaker 1: it back to me. I was shocked because I hadn't
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Speaker 1: read that book to him in over a year, since
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Speaker 1: it was way too advanced for a toddler. You remember
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Speaker 1: this book? I signed. He nodded enthusiastically and patted it.
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Speaker 1: First book. You read. I was baby. I didn't think
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Speaker 1: two-year-olds could have memories from when they were infants, but
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Speaker 1: Liam clearly remembered something about that book and those early
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Speaker 1: reading sessions. Maybe it was the feeling of being held
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Speaker 1: and safe, or maybe he remembered watching my face tell
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Speaker 1: the story, even if he couldn't hear the words. Either way,
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Speaker 1: it meant everything to me. I read him the Dragon
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Speaker 1: Book that night, signing what I could and fingerspelling the
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Speaker 1: words I didn't know signs for yet. Liam watched with
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Speaker 1: complete attention, and when I finished, he signed, more stories tomorrow.
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Speaker 1: Starting school was complicated because we had to decide between
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Speaker 1: mainstream education with an interpreter or a school specifically for
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Speaker 1: deaf children. Mom and dad visited several programs, weighing the
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Speaker 1: benefits of each option. The mainstream school would give Liam
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Speaker 1: exposure to both deaf and hearing children, teaching him to
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Speaker 1: navigate the hearing world. But the deaf school would immerse
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Speaker 1: him in ASL and deaf culture, surrounding him with people
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Speaker 1: who shared his experience. They ultimately chose a deaf school
15:41
Speaker 1: for his early years, with the plan to transition to
15:44
Speaker 1: mainstream school later if that's what Liam wanted. I was
15:46
Speaker 1: nervous about him going to school, worried that he'd forget
15:49
Speaker 1: about our reading time or that other kids would become
15:51
Speaker 1: more important than me. But Liam's teacher, Mr. Holloway, actually
15:54
Speaker 1: encouraged parents and siblings to continue reading at home, saying
15:57
Speaker 1: it built literacy skills regardless of hearing status. He suggested
16:00
Speaker 1: we get books specifically designed for deaf children, ones that
16:03
Speaker 1: emphasized visual storytelling and included sign language in the illustrations.
16:07
Speaker 1: We started collecting a whole new library of these books,
16:09
Speaker 1: and our reading time evolved again. Now Liam would tell
16:12
Speaker 1: me about what he learned at school, signing excitedly about
16:15
Speaker 1: his friends and teachers. He'd teach me new signs he'd
16:17
Speaker 1: picked up, correcting my hand. Shapes, when I got them wrong.
16:21
Speaker 1: Our roles had shifted slightly. I was still the big
16:23
Speaker 1: brother reading stories, but now Liam was also teaching me
16:26
Speaker 1: about his world and his language. By the time Liam
16:29
Speaker 1: turned four, he was completely fluent in ASL and starting
16:32
Speaker 1: to learn written English. The reading sessions now involved him
16:35
Speaker 1: following along with the text while I signed the story,
16:38
Speaker 1: making connections between the written words and their signed equivalents.
16:41
Speaker 1: He'd point at words and ask me to show him
16:43
Speaker 1: the sign, building his vocabulary in both languages simultaneously. His
16:47
Speaker 1: teacher said Liam was one of the strongest readers in
16:49
Speaker 1: his class, and I felt proud knowing our nightly ritual
16:52
Speaker 1: had contributed to that. One evening, Liam brought home a
16:55
Speaker 1: book from his school library that was illustrated by a
16:57
Speaker 1: deaf artist. The pictures were beautiful and detailed, and the
17:00
Speaker 1: story was about a deaf bunny learning to communicate with
17:02
Speaker 1: his hearing family. As I read it, I realized it
17:04
Speaker 1: was basically our story, just with animal characters. When I
17:07
Speaker 1: got to the part where the bunny teaches his brother
17:09
Speaker 1: sign language so they can talk about their dreams, Liam signed,
17:12
Speaker 1: like us. I nodded and signed back, exactly like us.
17:16
Speaker 1: You taught me how to really talk to you. Liam
17:18
Speaker 1: smiled and hugged me, and I felt grateful for everything
17:20
Speaker 1: we'd been through. The diagnosis that had seemed like a
17:23
Speaker 1: tragedy at first had actually opened up a whole new
17:25
Speaker 1: world for our family. I was in middle school when
17:27
Speaker 1: Liam started asking questions about why he was deaf and
17:30
Speaker 1: whether it could be fixed. Mom and dad had taken
17:32
Speaker 1: him to several specialists over the years, exploring options like
17:35
Speaker 1: hearing aids and cochlear implants. The audiologists all said the
17:38
Speaker 1: same thing. Liam's hearing loss was profound enough that traditional
17:41
Speaker 1: hearing aids wouldn't help much, but he was a candidate
17:44
Speaker 1: for cochlear implants if the family chose to pursue that route.
17:47
Speaker 1: The decision was complicated and controversial. Some members of the
17:49
Speaker 1: deaf community viewed cochlear implants as an attempt to fix
17:52
Speaker 1: something that wasn't broken, arguing that deafness was a cultural
17:55
Speaker 1: identity rather than a disability. Others saw the implants as
17:58
Speaker 1: a tool that could give deaf children more options in life.
18:01
Speaker 1: Mom and dad researched extensively, attending seminars and talking to
18:04
Speaker 1: families who'd chosen different paths. They ultimately decided to let
18:07
Speaker 1: Liam make the choice himself when he was old enough
18:10
Speaker 1: to understand the implications. In the meantime, they focused on
18:13
Speaker 1: giving him a rich life in both deaf and hearing worlds,
18:15
Speaker 1: teaching him that his deafness wasn't something to be ashamed
18:18
Speaker 1: of or something that needed fixing. It was just part
18:20
Speaker 1: of who he was, like having brown eyes or being left-handed.
18:23
Speaker 1: I agreed with this approach because I'd come to see
18:25
Speaker 1: Liam's deafness not as a tragedy, but as a difference
18:28
Speaker 1: that made him unique and special. When Liam was six,
18:31
Speaker 1: something happened at school that made me realize how much
18:33
Speaker 1: he'd grown. A hearing kid in his neighborhood made fun
18:36
Speaker 1: of the way Liam moved his hands, calling it weird
18:38
Speaker 1: flapping and saying he looked stupid. Liam came home upset,
18:42
Speaker 1: signing angrily about the encounter. I expected him to be
18:45
Speaker 1: hurt or embarrassed, but instead, he was mostly frustrated that
18:48
Speaker 1: the other kid was ignorant. He doesn't know sign language
18:51
Speaker 1: is real language, Liam signed. He thinks only voice talking counts.
18:55
Speaker 1: That's wrong. I was impressed by his confidence. and his
18:57
Speaker 1: understanding that the problem was the other kid's ignorance rather
19:00
Speaker 1: than his own deafness. We talked about how to handle
19:03
Speaker 1: situations like that, role-playing different responses. I taught him some comebacks,
19:07
Speaker 1: like signing. I can speak two languages, how many can
19:10
Speaker 1: you speak? Mom wasn't sure about encouraging confrontation, but Dad
19:13
Speaker 1: said it was important for Liam to learn to stand
19:15
Speaker 1: up for himself. The next time someone made fun of
19:17
Speaker 1: his signing, Liam apparently handled it so well that the
19:20
Speaker 1: kid apologized and asked to learn some signs. Liam came
19:23
Speaker 1: home beaming, proud that he'd educated someone instead of just
19:26
Speaker 1: feeling bad about himself. That confidence and self-advocacy was something
19:30
Speaker 1: I greatly admired about my little brother. He never saw
19:32
Speaker 1: himself as less than or broken. He knew he was different,
19:35
Speaker 1: but never let that difference define his worth. Our bedtime
19:38
Speaker 1: reading tradition continued through Liam's elementary school years, evolving as
19:41
Speaker 1: he got older and could read more independently. By second grade,
19:44
Speaker 1: he was reading chapter books on his own, but he
19:46
Speaker 1: still wanted me to read to him at night. We'd
19:48
Speaker 1: take turns now, with him reading a page in sign
19:51
Speaker 1: language and me reading the next page aloud while signing it.
19:54
Speaker 1: Sometimes we'd watch movies together with captions, pausing to discuss
19:57
Speaker 1: the plot or predict what would happen next. Other times
19:59
Speaker 1: we'd just hang out in comfortable silence, which I'd learned
20:02
Speaker 1: was its own form of communication. I'd gone from being
20:04
Speaker 1: terrified of silence to appreciating it as a space where
20:07
Speaker 1: Liam and I could just exist together and without pressure
20:09
Speaker 1: to perform or entertain. The silence wasn't empty or awkward.
20:13
Speaker 1: It was full of presence and understanding. When I started
20:15
Speaker 1: high school, my schedule got busier with homework and extracurricular activities.
20:19
Speaker 1: I worried about having less time for Liam, but he
20:21
Speaker 1: was understanding about it. We adjusted our routine to fit
20:23
Speaker 1: my schedule, sometimes reading earlier in the evening or doing
20:26
Speaker 1: shorter sessions on particularly busy nights. The important thing was
20:29
Speaker 1: maintaining the connection, not the exact timing or duration. Liam
20:32
Speaker 1: started having friends sleep over, and I was surprised when
20:35
Speaker 1: he asked if I'd read to all of them before bed.
20:37
Speaker 1: I felt awkward at first. signing stories to a group
20:39
Speaker 1: of deaf eight-year-olds who probably thought I was old and boring,
20:42
Speaker 1: but they loved it, laughing at my dramatic expressions and
20:45
Speaker 1: asking questions about the stories. One of Liam's friends, a
20:48
Speaker 1: girl named Sophie, told him I was the coolest big
20:51
Speaker 1: brother ever because I could sign so well. Liam beamed
20:54
Speaker 1: with pride and signed, I taught him everything. It wasn't
20:56
Speaker 1: exactly true since I'd learned from classes, and books too,
21:00
Speaker 1: but I let him have that moment. To him, we'd
21:02
Speaker 1: learned sign language together, teaching each other in the process.
21:05
Speaker 1: That was more accurate than saying either of us had
21:07
Speaker 1: taught the other. We'd been partners in this journey from
21:10
Speaker 1: the start. High school brought new challenges as I dealt
21:12
Speaker 1: with typical teenager stuff like dating and friend drama and
21:15
Speaker 1: college applications. Sometimes I got frustrated with the extra responsibilities
21:19
Speaker 1: of having a deaf brother, like having to interpret for
21:21
Speaker 1: him at family gatherings or explain things that hearing people
21:24
Speaker 1: took for granted. There were moments when I resented how
21:26
Speaker 1: much of my childhood had been shaped by Liam's needs,
21:29
Speaker 1: how our family's decisions always had to factor in his deafness.
21:32
Speaker 1: But those moments passed quickly, usually followed by guilt for
21:35
Speaker 1: even thinking such things. Liam didn't ask to be deaf.
21:38
Speaker 1: and he handled his challenges with more grace than I
21:40
Speaker 1: handled my much smaller problems. Watching him navigate a world
21:43
Speaker 1: not built for him with such confidence and joy put
21:45
Speaker 1: my own struggles in perspective. When I was applying to colleges,
21:48
Speaker 1: Liam got upset because he didn't want me to leave.
21:50
Speaker 1: He was ten by then, and old enough to understand
21:53
Speaker 1: that college meant I'd be living somewhere else, coming home
21:55
Speaker 1: only for breaks and holidays. Who will read to me?
21:58
Speaker 1: He signed, his eyes welling up with tears. I pulled
22:01
Speaker 1: him into a hug and promised that we'd video chat
22:03
Speaker 1: every night so I could still read to him, even
22:05
Speaker 1: if I couldn't be there physically. And you're such a
22:07
Speaker 1: good reader now, I signed. You can read yourself to
22:10
Speaker 1: sleep on the nights when I'm too busy, but I'll
22:12
Speaker 1: try to never be too busy for our stories. That
22:14
Speaker 1: seemed to comfort him somewhat, though he was still sad
22:16
Speaker 1: about me leaving. The night before I left for college
22:19
Speaker 1: was hard for both of us. We read three books
22:21
Speaker 1: instead of our usual one, and Liam kept hugging me
22:23
Speaker 1: between stories. When it was finally time for bed, he signed,
22:26
Speaker 1: Promise you won't forget me. I signed back firmly. Impossible.
22:30
Speaker 1: You're my best friend. Nothing will change that. I moved
22:32
Speaker 1: into my dorm in August and kept my promise about
22:35
Speaker 1: video chatting. Most nights around 9 o'clock, Liam would call
22:38
Speaker 1: me on FaceTime and we'd read together. He'd show me
22:40
Speaker 1: the book he'd chosen, and I'd read it aloud while signing,
22:43
Speaker 1: just like always. Sometimes my roommate would walk in and
22:45
Speaker 1: see me signing to my phone, and I'd have to
22:47
Speaker 1: explain about Liam. Most people thought it was sweet, though
22:50
Speaker 1: a few seemed confused about why I'd bother reading to
22:52
Speaker 1: a deaf kid. Those people didn't get it, and I
22:54
Speaker 1: didn't waste energy trying to explain something they couldn't understand.
22:57
Speaker 1: The video chat reading sessions worked well most of the time,
23:00
Speaker 1: but there were nights when I was too busy or
23:01
Speaker 1: too tired and would cancel on Liam. He'd be understanding
23:04
Speaker 1: about it, but I could see the disappointment on his
23:06
Speaker 1: face through the screen. I started feeling guilty about those
23:08
Speaker 1: missed nights, realizing how much Liam still depended on our
23:11
Speaker 1: routine for comfort and connection. During winter break, when I
23:14
Speaker 1: came home, Liam barely left my side. He wanted to
23:18
Speaker 1: do everything together, like he was trying to store up
23:20
Speaker 1: time with me before I left again. We read together
23:23
Speaker 1: every single night of that break, sometimes multiple times a day.
23:26
Speaker 1: When it was time to go back to school, Liam
23:28
Speaker 1: cried harder than he had when I first left, and
23:30
Speaker 1: Mom told me later that he'd been having nightmares about
23:33
Speaker 1: me not coming back. I felt terrible, and promised to
23:35
Speaker 1: be better about keeping our reading schedule consistent. Spring semester
23:39
Speaker 1: I was much more reliable about our nightly video chats,
23:41
Speaker 1: turning down social invitations if they conflicted with Liam's reading time.
23:45
Speaker 1: My friends started joking that I had a 9 o'clock
23:47
Speaker 1: curfew because of my bedtime story date, but I didn't
23:49
Speaker 1: care what they thought. This time with Liam was sacred,
23:52
Speaker 1: a thread connecting us despite the physical distance. I noticed
23:55
Speaker 1: that our conversations during these video chats went beyond just
23:58
Speaker 1: reading now. We'd talk about our days, our problems, our dreams.
24:02
Speaker 1: Liam would tell me about school drama and friend issues.
24:04
Speaker 1: asking for advice about how to handle situations. I'd tell
24:07
Speaker 1: him about my classes and college life, translating my experiences
24:10
Speaker 1: into signs he could understand. One night during finals week
24:13
Speaker 1: of my freshman year, I was particularly stressed about an
24:15
Speaker 1: exam and almost cancelled our reading session. But when Liam
24:18
Speaker 1: called right on schedule, I decided to answer and just
24:21
Speaker 1: explain that I needed to study. Before I could sign anything,
24:23
Speaker 1: Liam held up a book and signed, I'm going to
24:25
Speaker 1: read to you tonight. You need a break. He'd chosen
24:28
Speaker 1: a simple picture book that he could read easily, and
24:30
Speaker 1: he signed the entire story to me with dramatic expressions
24:33
Speaker 1: and character voices. It was such a role reversal from
24:35
Speaker 1: those early nights when I'd read to him as a baby,
24:38
Speaker 1: and I found myself relaxing despite my stress. When he finished,
24:41
Speaker 1: he signed, Feel better? I nodded and signed back, Much better.
24:44
Speaker 1: Thank you for taking care of me. He grinned and signed,
24:47
Speaker 1: That's what brothers do. That moment crystallized something I'd been
24:50
Speaker 1: slowly realizing. Our relationship had evolved from me being the
24:53
Speaker 1: caretaker to us being true equals who supported each other.
24:56
Speaker 1: The bedtime stories had started as something I did for Liam,
24:59
Speaker 1: but they'd become something we did together. A space where
25:01
Speaker 1: we could both be vulnerable and comforted. Summer after freshman year,
25:05
Speaker 1: I got an internship in the city near my college,
25:07
Speaker 1: which meant I wouldn't be coming home much. Liam was
25:10
Speaker 1: devastated when he found out, and we had our first
25:12
Speaker 1: real fight about it. He accused me of abandoning him
25:15
Speaker 1: and not caring about our time together anymore. I tried
25:17
Speaker 1: to explain that the internship was important for my career,
25:20
Speaker 1: but he didn't want to hear it. We didn't talk
25:22
Speaker 1: for three days, which was the longest we'd ever gone
25:25
Speaker 1: without communicating. Finally, Mom intervened and made us sit down together.
25:29
Speaker 1: Through tears and angry signs, we worked through the hurt feelings.
25:32
Speaker 1: Liam admitted he was scared that I'd found new priorities
25:35
Speaker 1: and would gradually phase him out of my life. I
25:37
Speaker 1: admitted that I'd been so focused on building my future
25:40
Speaker 1: that I hadn't considered how my choices affected him. We
25:43
Speaker 1: came up with a compromise. I'd come home at least
25:45
Speaker 1: one weekend a month, and we'd maintain our nightly video
25:48
Speaker 1: chat reading sessions no matter what. Additionally, I'd send him
25:51
Speaker 1: postcards and letters throughout the summer, giving him something physical
25:54
Speaker 1: to hold onto when he missed me. That summer was
25:56
Speaker 1: hard being away from home and from Liam, but the
25:59
Speaker 1: daily video chats helped. We'd branched out from just children's
26:01
Speaker 1: books to reading young adult novels together, alternating chapters. Liam
26:05
Speaker 1: was twelve now, and his reading level was impressive. His
26:08
Speaker 1: teachers said he was reading at a high school level,
26:10
Speaker 1: partly because of all the practice we'd given him over
26:12
Speaker 1: the years. I felt proud knowing that our nightly ritual
26:15
Speaker 1: had contributed to his academic success. The postcards I sent
26:18
Speaker 1: became a thing, too. I'd find ones with interesting pictures
26:20
Speaker 1: and write about what I was doing, describing the city
26:23
Speaker 1: and my internship in detail. Liam kept them all in
26:25
Speaker 1: a special box, and when I came home for visits,
26:28
Speaker 1: he'd show me how he'd organized them chronologically. creating a
26:30
Speaker 1: visual timeline of my summer. When Liam started middle school,
26:34
Speaker 1: things got complicated for him socially. He was mainstreamed into
26:36
Speaker 1: a hearing school for the first time, with an interpreter
26:39
Speaker 1: in his classes. While this gave him more opportunities academically,
26:42
Speaker 1: it also meant being one of the only deaf kids
26:44
Speaker 1: in a building full of hearing students. He struggled with
26:46
Speaker 1: feeling isolated and different, and our nightly reading sessions became
26:49
Speaker 1: less about the actual books and more about him processing
26:52
Speaker 1: his experiences. He'd sign about kids who stared at him
26:55
Speaker 1: or teachers who forgot to face him when talking. He'd
26:57
Speaker 1: express frustration about always being left out of casual conversations
27:01
Speaker 1: because his interpreter couldn't be everywhere at once. I listened
27:04
Speaker 1: and offered what support I could, but I knew my
27:06
Speaker 1: advice was limited since I couldn't truly understand what he
27:08
Speaker 1: was going through. One night he signed something that broke
27:11
Speaker 1: my heart. Sometimes I wish I could hear so I
27:13
Speaker 1: could be normal like everyone else. I didn't know how
27:15
Speaker 1: to respond to that. Part of me wanted to tell
27:17
Speaker 1: him that hearing wasn't better, just different, and that his
27:20
Speaker 1: deafness made him special. But I also knew that platitudes
27:24
Speaker 1: wouldn't help. Instead, I signed, I can't imagine how hard
27:27
Speaker 1: that must be, but I want you to know that
27:29
Speaker 1: you're perfect, exactly as you are, and anyone who makes
27:32
Speaker 1: you feel otherwise is wrong. You're not less than anyone else.
27:35
Speaker 1: You're just navigating a world that wasn't built for you,
27:38
Speaker 1: and that takes incredible strength. He cried, and I wished
27:41
Speaker 1: I could reach through the screen to hug him. The
27:43
Speaker 1: next day, I called Mom and told her about the conversation.
27:46
Speaker 1: She'd noticed Liam's struggles too, and had already been looking
27:49
Speaker 1: into support groups for deaf teens. She found a program
27:51
Speaker 1: that met monthly, where deaf students from different schools could
27:55
Speaker 1: connect and socialize. Liam was hesitant at first, but after
27:58
Speaker 1: attending one meeting, he came home energized and happy. He'd
28:01
Speaker 1: met other kids who understood exactly what he was going through,
28:04
Speaker 1: and they'd exchanged numbers to text throughout the month. Having
28:07
Speaker 1: those friendships made a huge difference in Liam's confidence and happiness.
28:10
Speaker 1: He stopped talking about wishing he could hear, and instead
28:13
Speaker 1: started advocating for better accommodations at his school. He educated
28:16
Speaker 1: his classmates about deaf culture and taught several of them
28:18
Speaker 1: basic signs. By the end of seventh grade, he had
28:21
Speaker 1: a solid friend group that included both deaf and hearing
28:23
Speaker 1: kids who'd made the effort to learn ASL. I was
28:26
Speaker 1: so proud of how he'd turned his struggle into advocacy
28:28
Speaker 1: and education. During winter break of my junior year, something
28:31
Speaker 1: shifted in our reading routine. Liam had been reading a
28:34
Speaker 1: book about a deaf teenager who got cochlear implants, and
28:36
Speaker 1: it brought up the conversation that mom and dad had
28:38
Speaker 1: been waiting for. Liam asked me what I thought about
28:41
Speaker 1: him getting implants, if I thought it would change who
28:43
Speaker 1: he was or make him less deaf. I chose my
28:45
Speaker 1: words carefully, signing, I think it's completely your choice. Cochlear
28:49
Speaker 1: implants might give you access to sound, but they won't
28:52
Speaker 1: make you hearing. You'll always be deaf, and that's not bad.
28:55
Speaker 1: it's just who you are. If you want to try
28:57
Speaker 1: implants because you're curious about sound or think they'll help
28:59
Speaker 1: you navigate the hearing world, that's valid. If you don't
29:02
Speaker 1: want them because you're happy with who you are and
29:04
Speaker 1: don't need to change, that's also valid. Liam thought about
29:07
Speaker 1: this for a long time before signing. What if I
29:09
Speaker 1: get them and they change our reading time? What if
29:11
Speaker 1: I stop needing you? That question revealed what this was
29:14
Speaker 1: really about. He wasn't scared of the surgery or uncertain
29:17
Speaker 1: about wanting to hear. He was scared that cochlear implants
29:20
Speaker 1: would somehow damage our bond. that our special connection built
29:23
Speaker 1: on sign language and visual communication would become unnecessary if
29:26
Speaker 1: he could hear. I signed firmly. Nothing could ever change
29:30
Speaker 1: what we have. Even if you got implants tomorrow and
29:32
Speaker 1: could suddenly hear perfectly, I'd still sign with you. I'd
29:35
Speaker 1: still read to you every night. The implants wouldn't erase
29:37
Speaker 1: 14 years of us being brothers and best friends. They'd
29:40
Speaker 1: just be another tool you could use, like wearing glasses
29:42
Speaker 1: to see better. That seemed to ease his worries, and
29:45
Speaker 1: over the next few months, he worked with mom and
29:47
Speaker 1: dad to research the surgery and recovery process. They met
29:50
Speaker 1: with audiologists and surgeons, talked to other families who'd chosen implants,
29:54
Speaker 1: and learned about what to expect. In the end, Liam
29:56
Speaker 1: decided to get the surgery done during the summer before
29:59
Speaker 1: eighth grade, giving him time to heal and adjust before
30:01
Speaker 1: school started again. I took time off from my summer
30:04
Speaker 1: internship to be home for the surgery, wanting to support
30:06
Speaker 1: him through the process. The day of the procedure, our
30:08
Speaker 1: whole family sat in the hospital waiting room for hours
30:11
Speaker 1: while surgeons implanted the device under Liam's skin. When they
30:15
Speaker 1: finally let us see him in recovery, he looked so
30:17
Speaker 1: small and vulnerable with bandages wrapped around his head. He
30:20
Speaker 1: was groggy from anesthesia, but signed weekly. Did it work?
30:24
Speaker 1: I had to explain that the implants wouldn't be activated
30:26
Speaker 1: for several weeks, giving his surgical site time to heal.
30:29
Speaker 1: He'd still be deaf for now, living in his familiar
30:32
Speaker 1: silent world for just a bit longer. The recovery process
30:35
Speaker 1: was harder than any of us expected. Liam had pain
30:37
Speaker 1: and dizziness, and he couldn't do most of his normal activities.
30:40
Speaker 1: He got frustrated and bored, especially since he couldn't even
30:43
Speaker 1: read comfortably with the headaches he was experiencing. I stayed
30:46
Speaker 1: with him most days, and we'd watch captioned movies or
30:48
Speaker 1: just sit together. He couldn't handle our usual reading sessions,
30:52
Speaker 1: so instead, I'd sign him short stories I made up,
30:54
Speaker 1: simple tales about brave kids going on adventures. One story
30:57
Speaker 1: became a running series about a deaf detective who solved
30:59
Speaker 1: mysteries using his exceptional observation skills. Liam loved that character
31:03
Speaker 1: and would sign suggestions for future cases. Slowly, he healed.
31:07
Speaker 1: The bandages came off, revealing the external processor that would
31:10
Speaker 1: need to be attached when the implant was activated. The
31:13
Speaker 1: surgeon explained that activation day would be emotional and overwhelming,
31:16
Speaker 1: that Liam shouldn't expect to immediately understand speech or music.
31:19
Speaker 1: It would take time and therapy for his brain to
31:21
Speaker 1: learn how to interpret the electrical signals as sound. The
31:23
Speaker 1: day they activated the implants, I went with Liam and
31:25
Speaker 1: Mom to the audiologist's office. Dr. Ashford, who'd diagnosed Liam
31:29
Speaker 1: 13 years ago, was there to oversee the process. She
31:32
Speaker 1: attached the external processor to Liam's head and explained what
31:35
Speaker 1: would happen when she turned it on. You're going to
31:37
Speaker 1: hear sound for the first time, she signed. It might
31:40
Speaker 1: be strange or uncomfortable at first. If it's too much,
31:42
Speaker 1: let me know immediately. Liam nodded, looking both excited and terrified.
31:47
Speaker 1: I sat next to him and held his hand while Dr.
31:49
Speaker 1: Ashford activated the processor. Liam's eyes went wide and he
31:52
Speaker 1: grabbed my hand so tight it hurt. His face cycled
31:54
Speaker 1: through several emotions. Surprise. Confusion. Discomfort. Wonder. Dr. Ashford was speaking,
32:00
Speaker 1: and Liam was clearly hearing something, though it probably didn't
32:02
Speaker 1: sound like normal speech yet. After a few minutes, she
32:05
Speaker 1: turned it off to give him a break, and Liam
32:07
Speaker 1: immediately started signing frantically. That was so weird. Everything was
32:11
Speaker 1: beeps and buzzes and my own breathing was so loud,
32:13
Speaker 1: and I could hear my heart beating and it was
32:14
Speaker 1: too much and also amazing and I don't know what
32:16
Speaker 1: anything was, but I heard something, and oh my god.
32:19
Speaker 1: His signs were rapid and excited, and I found myself
32:22
Speaker 1: crying happy tears. This was a huge moment for him,
32:25
Speaker 1: his first experience with sound after 13 years of silence.
32:28
Speaker 1: Over the next few months, Liam worked with a speech
32:30
Speaker 1: therapist and audiologist to train his brain to interpret the
32:33
Speaker 1: implant's signals. It was frustrating for him because hearing through
32:37
Speaker 1: an implant wasn't like natural hearing. Sounds were mechanical and
32:40
Speaker 1: distorted at first, and he had to learn to distinguish
32:43
Speaker 1: between different noises and voices. But gradually, things started clicking.
32:47
Speaker 1: He could identify common sounds like doorbells and car horns.
32:50
Speaker 1: He could tell when someone was speaking, Though understanding the
32:53
Speaker 1: words was still difficult, his speech therapist said he was
32:55
Speaker 1: progressing remarkably well, probably because his strong language foundation in
32:59
Speaker 1: ASL made it easier for him to connect sounds to concepts.
33:02
Speaker 1: The first time Liam heard my voice, really heard it
33:04
Speaker 1: and understood it as speech, was about four months post-activation.
33:08
Speaker 1: We were doing our usual video chat reading session, and
33:10
Speaker 1: I was signing while also reading aloud like I always did. Suddenly,
33:14
Speaker 1: Liam signed, Wait, stop, say that again. I repeated the
33:17
Speaker 1: sentence I'd just read, and his face lit up with
33:20
Speaker 1: the most beautiful smile I'd ever seen. I understood you.
33:23
Speaker 1: I heard your voice and understood the words. Say my name.
33:25
Speaker 1: Say it out loud. I spoke his name clearly, and
33:28
Speaker 1: he started crying. That's what I sound like? That's my
33:31
Speaker 1: name as a sound? I nodded, my own throat tight
33:33
Speaker 1: with emotion. Say you love me, he signed. Out loud,
33:36
Speaker 1: so I can hear it. I spoke the words clearly.
33:39
Speaker 1: I love you, Liam. He signed back, I love you too,
33:42
Speaker 1: and then tried to say it out loud with his voice.
33:44
Speaker 1: His speech was rough and unclear, but I understood it perfectly.
33:47
Speaker 1: We spent the rest of that night with me saying
33:49
Speaker 1: things out loud while he practiced listening. both of us
33:51
Speaker 1: amazed by this new dimension to our communication. But here's
33:54
Speaker 1: the thing. Even though Liam could hear now with the implants,
33:57
Speaker 1: we never stopped signing. He still preferred ASL for deep
34:00
Speaker 1: conversations and emotional topics, saying that sign language felt more
34:03
Speaker 1: natural and expressive to him. The implants were a tool
34:06
Speaker 1: he used in hearing environments, but at home with family,
34:09
Speaker 1: he often took the processors off and existed in comfortable silence.
34:12
Speaker 1: Our reading routine continued mostly unchanged. I'd sign and speak simultaneously,
34:17
Speaker 1: and he'd listen with the processors on but still watch
34:19
Speaker 1: my face and hands the way he always had. The
34:21
Speaker 1: core of our bond had never been about sound, anyway.
34:23
Speaker 1: It was about presence and connection and shared ritual. When
34:27
Speaker 1: I graduated college, Liam gave a speech at my graduation party.
34:30
Speaker 1: He used his voice, speaking slowly and carefully so everyone
34:32
Speaker 1: could understand him. My brother has been reading to me
34:35
Speaker 1: every night since I was a baby, he said, his
34:37
Speaker 1: words clear enough despite the mechanical quality of deaf speech.
34:40
Speaker 1: He didn't know I couldn't hear him for the first
34:42
Speaker 1: two years, but when he found out he didn't stop.
34:44
Speaker 1: He learned my language so we could keep telling stories together.
34:47
Speaker 1: He taught me that love isn't about words or sounds.
34:49
Speaker 1: It's about showing up every day and being present. He
34:51
Speaker 1: showed up for me every single day for 16 years,
34:54
Speaker 1: and I'm the person I am today because of that.
34:56
Speaker 1: There wasn't a dry eye in the room when he finished.
34:58
Speaker 1: And when I hugged him, he signed against my back.
35:01
Speaker 1: Thank you for never giving up on our stories. I
35:03
Speaker 1: signed back. Thank you for teaching me what communication really means.
35:07
Speaker 1: Now I'm 24, and Liam is 16, and we still
35:10
Speaker 1: have our reading time. He's in high school now, navigating
35:13
Speaker 1: teenage drama and thinking about colleges. Sometimes weeks pass where
35:16
Speaker 1: we're both too busy and only manage one or two
35:18
Speaker 1: video chat sessions. but we always come back to it,
35:21
Speaker 1: this ritual that's been the foundation of our relationship. Recently,
35:24
Speaker 1: Liam told me he wants to become a teacher for
35:26
Speaker 1: deaf children. He wants to help other deaf kids learn
35:28
Speaker 1: to love reading and learning the way our nightly stories
35:31
Speaker 1: taught him. I couldn't be more proud. Thanks for hanging
35:33
Speaker 1: out till the end. If you want more stories, make
35:36
Speaker 1: sure to subscribe and leave your take below.