She stands on the left side of all her friends in the hallway. She sits on the left side of the car. Her desk is on the left side of the classroom. She is positioned on the left side for every cheer formation. There is only one thing Jessie Striler, sophomore, does not do on the left side: hear.
For Striler, there are two possible causes of hearing loss. One simple and most common explanation is that she was born with it. Another, more shocking explanation is that it resulted from an accident she was involved in as a young baby.
“There was a babysitter at my house, and she sat me down on a really narrow ledge,” Striler said. “The babysitter left me there and walked away. Being such a young baby, I rolled off the ledge and fell onto the floor.”
Striler’s mother, Carmen, was suspicious about her daughter’s hearing troubles. Being only 2 years old, there were doubts that Striler was completely deaf. But Carmen saw signs that something wasn’t right.
“Whenever I would give her the phone to talk to her grandparents or something, she never put the phone to her left ear,” Carmen said.
Being deaf in one ear has altered Striler’s voice. However, she was never aware of the fact she talked differently until she heard herself talking on a recording in middle school.
“I hear myself completely normally in my head,” Striler said, “and since I don’t hear myself different, I can’t fix it.”
After she found out she didn’t sound the same as her peers, Striler stopped talking as much as possible. She was afraid of public speaking for almost two years. Carmen suggested running for Student Council, but
Striler was too worried about her speech.
As a mother, Carmen was sorry her daughter would have to grow up deaf in one ear. Thankfully, Carmen grew up with someone in the same position.
“My brother is deaf…as well,” Carmen said. “He got by well, so I knew Jessie would too.”
Striler has been accused of faking a “bad British accent,” and constantly hears remarks about her speech impediment from kids around school.
Sophomore Sophie Lanzendorf, Striler’s friend of a year and a half, admits to assuming Striler had an accent.
“[When I first met her at cheerleading tryouts,] I thought she was from England or something,” Lanzendorf said. “Then someone else asked her about it and told me that she was deaf in her one ear.”
Although she has learned to laugh along with the comments, they used to really affect her self-esteem.
“[When I was younger,] I used to just go home from school and cry because of it,” Striler said. “It’s even still miserable after living with it for this many years.”
Striler’s friends have helped her deal with comments made toward her speech and hearing loss.
Occasionally, her friends may even make light-hearted jokes showing her how to laugh at herself.
“When she can’t hear us, we just start yelling really loud in her right ear,” Lanzendorf said. “She just laughs and chases us down the hall.”
Striler has learned how to cope with the disability and knows how to make the best out of her situation.
“She’s so social and has a great personality,” Carmen said. “She doesn’t let this hold her back from doing what she wants.”
