A break

I'm going to take a break from this for a while, spending too much time thinking about things instead of enjoying life.

Mr. Brightside

Sorry for not posting properly for a while I wasn't really sure what to talk about so I've decided to post something a bit more positive.

Here are the more positive aspects that I've found from having TCS:

1. You stand out from the crowd
2. You get more satisfaction from doing certain things as you have the knowledge that it has been harder for you because other people don't have to deal with the problems of TCS
3. I can turn my hearing aid off whenever I want, this has numerous uses such as protecting my hearing at loud concerts etc. and it also means that I'm not woken at night due to loud noises like wind, rain, people getting up earlier than me
4. I don't need to buy expensive headphones, I can listen to my mp3/laptop/dvd player wirelessly by plugging it into my mic system which transmits the sound to the receiver attached to my hearing aid.
5. This may just be me but I've learnt to appreciate things more such as music because I wear a hearing aid which allows me to hear things properly

Thanks for reading.

100 views!

Yesterday I reached the 100th mark for views (not counting my own obviously).
Thanks very much for the interest and support, I plan to do another update very soon.

Doctor Doctor

Over the years I have seen many many many doctors, some good, some bad and some that I will never forget but not in a good way. One such occasion was when I was still quite young (before my teenage years) and we had some hospital appointment or other about my snoring at night. In the past I had even had a machine at home which monitored it. My mum asked this doctor if there was anything else we could do to which he replied that they could "drill a hole in my head and monitor me overnight", my facial expression must have said it all as whenever we left my mum quickly told me not to worry, we would not be taking him up on his offer.

I never saw that doctor again.

Contact me

Just set up a separate email account specifically to do with this blog:
jab_tcsblog@hotmail.co.uk

You can email me with any queries, questions, comments etc.

If you want to chat about experiences there is also msn/live chat, so feel free to add me.

Stop and stare

Or rather don't.

One of the worst things that can happen to you if you have a physical feature that stands out is being stared at. It is something that can and at times does ruin a day out. Children are the worst culprits, it is fine if they are just curious I guess but some are very persistent and that's when it starts to really get annoying. What's even more annoying is that if the parents if they are about don't do anything about it. I've had some experiences where children have been extremely rude in their staring and their parents have completely ignored them.

What's worse than children staring at you/making a comment, people that should know better where it be older kids/teenagers/adults. One experience I had last year was this younger guy actually laughing whilst looking directly at me, no shame whatsoever, I hurried on due to embarrassment but my mum gave him a real earful so maybe next time he will think.

This is another problem with treacher collins syndrome in the fact that if your speech is affected then its hard to make a comeback or speak your mind and so you can't really do anything other than ignore them which is probably advised.

It is obviously easier when you are with friends/family but the fact is people need to be better educated, we have the right to go about our business like a normal person without being embarrassed or humiliated. I understand children will be children but their parents need to teach them manners. I've read some peoples comments that they would rather people came up and asked them about their condition but I would not be one of those people.

First year at university

So I'm currently enjoying my long summer holidays after a packed first year at university. Have to say it went probably better than I expected. I was rather nervous for obvious reasons I had left the comfort and familiarity of high school behind and this was a new start. Its a nervous enough time for most people but obviously I had the added burden of TCS.

I had one friend from school doing almost exactly the same course so I was lucky in that respect. I didn't enjoy first week at all, talk about information overload, I really think they need to make it easier for people to settle in rather than telling them all this information only for it to become clear that most of it you did not need to worry about. It was also annoying having to start again with new lecturers giving them my mic system and trying to explain to them how to use it.

The week did not end well, my throat decided to tighten to the point where I could barely drink. Several throat infections later and many many months down the line I am still having trouble although the doctors don't have a clue why but its far less severe than when it first started. Note this as far as I'm aware has nothing to do with TCS.

This is all the doom and gloom out of the way though. I found most if not all lecturers to be friendly and competent enough with the mic system. My fellow students that I spoke to were also friendly and I began carrying a notebook in case anyone couldn't understand what I was saying. It was refreshing that like at school no one really seemed to take any particular notice to me, I cannot remember one instance of someone staring.

One of the first things we did was to be set a group project in one of the modules and this was when I met one of my first new friends. Things got better from then, after a rough first couple of weeks (due to being sick) I began to settle into a rhythm, I became more confident in practicals and really enjoyed some of the lectures I had.

Christmas came and went and I was extremely happy with my exam results. Second half of the year was even better and I made more new friends, I'm happy to be part of a group of friends now and we all sit together in lectures.

I managed to survive a 3 day field course and managed to pass all my exams and now here I am writing this blog.