12/23/2025
Practice patience and be kind 🤟🏻
Everyone hears the Christmas dinner.
Not everyone experiences it the same way.
Christmas dinner can be loud.
Not just joyful loud ... layered loud.
Plates clinking.
Cutlery scraping.
Everyone talking at once.
Stories overlapping.
Laughter from one end of the table.
A question shouted from the other.
Someone interrupts.
Someone starts replying before the sentence has finished.
For most people, it feels festive.
For many deaf people including those using hearing aids, bahas and cochlear implants,
it can feel overwhelming ...
not because of the food,
but because of the effort it takes to keep up.
This is the invisible part:
Trying to follow who is speaking.
Trying to piece together what was said.
Trying to smile at the right moment ..
even when one missed the punchline.
Trying not to interrupt.
Trying not to withdraw.
It’s not that they don’t want to be part of the conversation.
It’s that the conversation doesn’t always leave space.
And during the holidays ...
when tables are fuller, rooms are louder, and conversations move faster ...
that space matters more than ever.
So this season, a gentle reminder.
Sometimes inclusion at the table looks like:
📍one conversation at a time
📍facing the person you’re speaking to •
📍slowing down, just a little
📍checking in, “Did you catch that?”
📍turning the music down, not up
Pause before speaking over someone.
Make eye contact.
Repeat if needed, without sighs or embarrassment.
Include the person who’s gone quiet.
Slow the moment down, just a little.
Christmas needs gentler pacing.
Because the most meaningful part of the meal isn’t what’s on the plate ..
It’s who gets to stay part of the conversation.
© Talking Deaf Kid, 2025
