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Dealing with addiction and a hearing disability

Name: Dr. Frank Lala
E-mail address: Frank_James3rd@hotmail.com
Date: 30 Jun 1998
Time: 23:10:41
Remote Name: bppp37.jvlnet.com
Remote User:

My story

Becoming a victim of alcohol or drugs is a terrible fate for any individual and a loss for society. The losses are compounded when the victim is already handicapped with a hearing impairment and when treatment is difficult to find.

When I was five, I began to lose my hearing due to an antibiotic drug (Streptomycin) intended to combat tonsillitis infection. My parents were heartbroken at the prospect of profound deafness and concerned as to how it would impact my life. They continued to shower me with their affection and love.

After my first year at Calfornia School for the Deaf in Riverside, my dad died suddenly of a heart attack alone on the corner of Hollywood and Vine.

My mom was in the hospital with an acute ear infection at the time Dad died. As a strange twist of fate, she lost her hearing, too, five years after I did. There was no deafness in our family history other than mother's twin sister, Aunt Mary, who previously had a similar ear infection and also became deaf as a result.

Both sisters were 28 when my mother lost her hearing. Both lost their jobs, and that immediately forced us into poverty. At 10, I was compelled to grow up very fast. Isolation and confusion consumed me. I changed from an outgoing, friendly person to a withdrawn and frightened young boy.

I sadly watched Mother become an alcoholic, just like her sister, Mary. They also abused prescription drugs.

I recall at 16 coming home to our apartment and finding it destroyed. The apartment manager said my mother's lit cigarette set the fire. He threw us out. Secretly, I knew she was probably drunk and passed out.

My mother, aunts, uncles and grandparents had all died from substance abuse of one form or another by the time I was 21.

I was angry as I suffered what substance abuse did to my life and family. I swore that I would never drink alcohol, use drugs or smoke. I wanted to help others with their substance abuse. The negative life I had as a young boy became my positive strength as a young adult.

I remained in school and became one of the four co-founders of a recovery program for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Alcohol and Drug Abusers in Southern California. I wrote my doctoral dissertation about the deaf substance abuser.

Deaf substance abuse is a social problem that needs to be resolved through government programs, public awareness and educaton. Our deaf citizens have many problems to overcome, and it's way too easy for them to go inward. I know. I was there.

Frank James John Lala, Jr., Ph.D.
author
Counseling the Deaf Substance Abuser
See reviews on Deaf Entertainment Foundation site.

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