In the early 1970s, then 7-year-old Rhonda Denise Johnson remembers standing at the bus stop with her Aunt Angie when she noticed something peculiar.
“As we were standing at the stop and I saw the bus coming down the street, I noticed that I couldn’t see the bus’ number, but I didn’t really think much of it,” said Johnson, who despite being classified as legally blind and now wears a cochlear implant, has overcome a milestone of obstacles. The now author of several novels, short stories and poetry books, shares her story often and has become known as “the writer who paints pictures with words.”
At the age of 12, the Washington, D.C. native began experiencing severe hearing and sight loss. She soon developed cataracts.
“Growing up I wasn’t aware I had a disability because there was so much I could hear and see, but looking back I know the problem was there because there was a lot of confusion,” said Johnson. “There were times people would say things to me and I could hear what they said when they were right in front of me, but I couldn’t understand the context.”
Johnson explained that much of her hearing and sight disabilities were taken as misbehavior from peers and school administrators, despite the fact she was a high achiever academically. These assumptions took a toll on Johnson’s self esteem and although a high school chemistry teacher often delivered regular pep talks to students, Johnson continued to struggle because of her disabilities.
“I began to miss a lot of things because of my blindness. My chemistry teacher always said, ‘Quitters never win and winners never quit.’ And I didn’t want to be seen as a quitter, but I wasn’t even able to see the numbers on the thermostat let alone know at what temperature things would melt,” admitted Johnson.
Peers and teachers saw Johnson’s actions as strange and her mother also had similar thoughts. Johnson was taken to a hospital where an administrator checked her ears and saw “nothing wrong” with her hearing. It took about three more years for 15-year-old Johnson to have a hearing aid installed.
The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that children with hearing loss might be able to hear certain sounds and pitches and hearing-impaired children are often unable to hear their names when called. Their behavior can be mistakenly labeled as inattention or behavioral misconduct.
“It was difficult because I wasn’t able to participate in many conversations to know what people were talking about. That was a time in my life when it was important to have friends that accepted me but I had to find my own self worth,” said Johnson. “I couldn’t understand why people had so much to talk about. I kept asking myself ‘where do they get all of this stuff to talk about?’”
Eventually Johnson’s hearing aid just wasn’t enough, especially once she enrolled in college where she studied communications with a focus on print media. She used the campus’ student disability services often where she would be assisted in taking class notes.
Being deaf and blind created several struggles for Johnson the ordinary college student wouldn’t experience and toward the end of her undergraduate career, her hearing plunged into profound deafness.
“My hearing was so bad, the hearing aid was no longer working. I couldn’t distinguish speech from a knock on the door. A friend of mine then told me about the cochlear implant,” said Johnson who underwent surgery at age 35 in San Francisco to install the implant.
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, a cochlear implant is, “a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing. The implant consists of an external portion that sits behind the ear and a second portion that is surgically placed under the skin.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration as of December 2012 found approximately 324,200 people worldwide have received implants.
“I was ready and excited to get the implant,” said Johnson. “I was set up with various doctors and psychologist to be sure I had the right attitude for success but they also did everything in their power to discourage me and to let me know it may not work.”
One of the doctors noted there would only be a 50 percent chance she would gain hearing but there was a zero percent chance of hearing if she didn’t undergo surgery. She then read a book about people who were able to hear on the phone the first day after surgery and was sure she would be one of those people but Johnson’s expectations were not a reality.
“When they turned my equipment on, I was more than disappointed, I was appalled. I could not distinguish speech from other sounds,” she said. “My mother was there and she encouraged me that I had to learn to hear again.”
Library audiobooks quickly became Johnson’s acquaintances and she often found herself listening to the bus schedule over the phone. With time, she truly did train her ears to hear and recalls her first time speaking on the phone with her uncle since her childhood.
“I couldn’t believe it was him and that sound could bring me information like that. I kept asking, ‘who is this?’” laughed Johnson.
Today, Johnson holds a master’s degree in English from California State University, Los Angeles and previously taught writing classes to undergraduate students. She continues to work on her books full time by using a software magnification program, which helps her use the computer by enlarging the content on the screen. While she does have a proofreader, she completes all of her work without extra assistance.
“It feels good to inspire others through my books,” said Johnson who’s first book was an autobiography titled Speaking for the Child: An Autobiography and a Challenge.
“I knew writing could help me make sense of all of the things I’d been through and I knew I had the ability to do it,” she said.
For more information on author Rhonda Denise Johnson, visit Rhondadenisejohnson.com.
