Speak a Little Louder By: Ashley Bridges

Caprock is the only school in the Texas Panhandle with a Deaf
Education program. All deaf students from the 26 counties in the
panhandle come to Caprock. I got together with Andrew Bridges, a deaf
student attending Caprock and asked him a few questions. I asked how it
felt to be deaf. Bridges responded, "It's wonderful; there are no sounds
to annoy me." "But what about music? Most people enjoy music and you
can't listen to it?" He jokes, "The silence is my music and it's a hit."
I asked him if he ever wished he was hearing and he said "No, I like
being deaf because I can do things in peace without getting scared from
things like objects falling or thunderstorms." Bridges has been deaf
from birth, and no researchers can figure out why. Bridges says "This is
how God made me, and I'm fine with it." I asked, "Do you ever have any
problems with communication like ordering food or going in businesses?"
"No, and if I do, I just ask for paper and a pen to write down what I
mean." Andrew Bridges is fine with being deaf, that's how he's always
been and wouldn't change it for anything.