Denise Portis
My blogs
| Gender | Female |
|---|---|
| Industry | Education |
| Occupation | Teacher |
| Location | Mid-Atlantic, United States |
| Introduction | I have had a bi-lateral hearing loss since the age of 25. By Christmas of 2003, my loss had become so profound that communication had become very difficult. Even with the aid of two BTE hearing aids, assistive listening devices, and speech reading, trying to communicate had become very hard. In the fall of 2004, I began investigating the cochlear implant and was evaluated at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore. I was told that I qualified for implantation in "either" ear. I chose to implant my "worse" ear, which is my left one. On April 6th, I was implanted with the New Freedom, which had just recently been released by the FDA. I was activated on May 13th. I am hearing in a whole new way, and my life is completely changed! I did not think I would hear this way again "this side of Heaven"! |
| Interests | Hearing loss, cochlear implant, CI, disability advocacy, HLAA, Hearing Loss Association of America, Crochet and Cross-stitch, Reading, Journaling, Public speaking, homeschooling high schoolers, homeschooling, dog training, hearing assistance dogs, assistance dogs, Cochlear Corporation, Fidos For Freedom, Walsh, Walsh High School |
| Favorite movies | Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Wizard of Oz, Sound of Music, Charlotte's Web, Pride and Prejudice |
| Favorite music | Chris Tomlin, Avalon, Selah, Nicole Mullen |
| Favorite books | The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, If You Want to Walk on Water You've Got to Get Our of the Boat, Threading the Snail, Hear Again, I Danced, Christy, When the Game is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box, anything by John Ortberg! |
What would you name your ballet inspired by the sight of children leaping through a garden sprinkler?
Wet Kids in a Sprinkler