WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:00.570 --> 00:00:04.770 When I was six, my mom asked me if I wanted to do ballet or piano. 00:00:05.340 --> 00:00:09.120 I picked piano mostly because my hearing aid would go skydiving 00:00:09.150 --> 00:00:10.480 if I were to do a pirouette. 00:00:11.550 --> 00:00:16.950 However, given my hearing loss at a residual 20% in both ears, it would 00:00:16.950 --> 00:00:19.590 seem counterintuitive to study music. 00:00:20.880 --> 00:00:26.895 Mostly though, the parents wanted me to not feel I was limited by hearing aids. 00:00:27.555 --> 00:00:33.015 My brother, four years older than me, is severely autistic and required a 00:00:33.015 --> 00:00:35.025 great deal more attention than I did. 00:00:35.864 --> 00:00:39.075 When he was younger, he was prone to tantrums and had to be 00:00:39.075 --> 00:00:43.754 supervised constantly, lest he accidentally hurt himself or others. 00:00:44.864 --> 00:00:49.905 I was born to be the normal child in the family, but I was not responding to 00:00:49.905 --> 00:00:51.675 most sounds that even my brother did. 00:00:52.800 --> 00:00:59.070 In our household, between the two of us, my brother and I, what did normal mean? 00:00:59.850 --> 00:01:03.090 Would I be considered normal because I was not autistic? 00:01:04.110 --> 00:01:06.810 Or was my hearing also an aberration?