Review of I’m Not Stupid, I Have Hearing Loss by Tracy L. Markley

This book is a great lesson of life. Even though it has 56 pages only, it contains a full overview about the entire life of the author.

The work is, above all, a great lesson of courage, a memoir in which Tracy L Markley opens her heart to talk about the disability that affected her in the childhood, and about how she overcame the stigma and isolation that people often reserve to disabled persons.

As a child, and a student, in fact, Tracy had problems listening, reading, and pronouncing correct words, but her mistakes, and misspellings were often considered as poor commitment, or, rather, as stupidity.

We can only imagine the frustration that Tracy endured at that time. Over the years, Tracy has continued experiencing marginalization and criticism from others, until she discovered, thanks to an audiologist, that she had hearing loss.

The latter is a condition that may occur for genetic causes, stroke, or trauma.

Throughout eloquent chapters, the author reveals that she had a head trauma, when she was a little girl. If you accidentally bang your head along a hard surface, not only your brain, but also your senses can be injured. Tracy’s injury was hearing loss.

This condition is extremely severe because it prevents you from properly hearing sounds, noises, and voices.

Often, parents and siblings are unaware about the disabling condition of their children, and mock them when they pronounce the wrong word instead to, simply, say Yes.

The game changer arrived when Tracy began to wear hearing aids, devices that allow to retrieve the ability to hear, and move on.

And Tracy not only moved on, but built a brilliant path of self-help, with the goal to spread awareness about hearing loss and how to overcome the condition.

Today, Tracy is the author of 12 books (especially on stroke recovery) and a fitness coach who helps others use hearing aids, and restore their lives undermined by hearing loss.

I suggest that you immerse yourself amid these touching pages, to discover all the emotional world that surrounds the story of Tracy.

Yes, because, today, even in our well developed and evolute world, disability is still a scarcely understood and neglected condition.

I remained strongly moved by what Tracy experienced as an adult, as well. During her visit to treat her hearing loss, in the waiting room, she meets another woman who starts to talk to her and becomes annoyed by the difficulty of Tracy to immediately grasp her words.

The woman turns out to be a bad mannered and insensitive person, even when Tracy explains she suffers from hearing loss. The woman moves away from her, after offending Tracy for her difficulty.

This person was unable to understand that the brain bears tremendous fatigue, when you have hearing loss, because it takes more time to elaborate words and sounds.

Moreover, according to the science data that Tracy provides in her book, untreated hearing loss can cause brain damage, including Alzheimer and dementia.

Even in its brevity, the book teaches much. But, first of all, it teaches that real dumbness resides in those who are unable to respect and accept disabilities.

No, my dear Tracy, you are not stupid, you are a smart and courageous person who has given us the most precious treasure you have: your story, your life.