Gabriela Frank's ALDAcon Keynote Presentation

Editor: It's easy enough for us to dwell on the negative aspects of hearing loss, and I think a lot of us tend to do just that. So it's nice to be reminded once in awhile that there are other ways to view hearing loss. One such occasion was Gabriela Frank's keynote presentation at ALDAcon's President's Luncheon.

For those who don't know, Gabriela is a renowned musician; we had the opportunity to hear her play some classics and some of her compositions at an evening "social" during the conference. It was outstanding! (For a very brief video of her performance, have a look at http://www.alda.org/aldacon2005/Gabriela1.htm)

For more information on Gabriela and her music, please point your browser to http://www.schirmer.com/composers/frank/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was born in the early seventies, the second child of a racially and ethnically mixed couple who were immersed in the Berkeley hippie culture. When I didn't start speaking at a normal age, my parents talked to a lot of different people and heard lots of theories about why my speech was delayed. The theories ranged from the possibility that I was confused by the multitude of languages spoken in my home to the idea that I was just seeking attention.

My brother started playing the piano when I was about two years old, and I would sit against the piano to feel the vibrations it made. I started to play with it myself and soon figured out how it worked. Before too long I was able to play and I would sometimes change the music I learned to make it "better".

When I enrolled in Kindergarten my teacher happened to have previously worked with deaf kids, and she soon figured out that I had hearing loss. She went with me and my parents to the audiologist when I was got my first hearing aids, and she brought along some musical recordings. So I heard music for the first time; of course I heard lots of other sounds for the first time, as well.

I think it's interesting that I didn't like how the piano sounded when I wore my hearing aids. And to this day I take my hearing aids off when I play.

My hearing loss is very mixed. I do very well on anything that's music-related, and horrible on everything else. I hear speech as musical notes, and everyone speaks in a particular key. I know when my mother is angry, because she changes to a particular minor key!

My parents were always very supportive. They never told me to abandon a music career just because I couldn't hear. So I grew up with the idea that I could do whatever I set my mind to. When I started to travel to South America a lot I decided to learn Spanish. That was difficult, because I couldn't pick it up in normal conversation. I had to take a very academic approach initially. Then I watched Spanish soap operas on TV. They were great, because everyone was so dramatic. Then I graduated to news broadcasts, which were fast-paced, but still very clearly spoken. Finally I moved on to regular programming, with the less precise speech, slang, etc.

I thought I had adjusted pretty well to my hearing loss as I completed my Doctorate. Then the day after I defended my dissertation I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder called Graves Disease. And two years after that I was diagnosed with Graves Eye Disease.

The first symptom of that was that my eyes didn't blink together. Then I noticed that things were generally darker than before. And then I realized that I wasn't "hearing" as well as before, because I wasn't able to lipread as well.

Since that diagnosis I've been through several surgeries, and I have more to go. I've also had radiation and other therapies. One eye is already completely gone, and the other one is in and out.

One day I awoke and opened my eyes, and still saw complete blackness. I had not yet developed the habit of placing my hearing aids in the same place when I took them off, and I spend two hours looking for them before I could make a phone call!

Sometimes I feel sorry for myself. But I've also had a series of epiphanies. One is that my mindset has so much to do with how I handle adversity. It's interesting that dealing with my hearing loss was simple, while dealing with my vision loss has been so hard. I think the main difference is being born with one and acquiring the other, and the resulting attitude differences.

I'm 32 now, and I think I've had a lot of experience in my short life.

I've got a great support system. My friends know how to support me and are always very good about helping. It's a lot of fun for me to watch them in action!

I know I don't have a complete handle on my hearing loss. One of the great things about music is that it forces me to continually confront my hearing loss.