Why We Need to Hear Your Unique Message | Karina Cotran
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Karina Cotran shares: “From childhood to adolescence to adulthood, everyone wants to feel like they belong somewhere. But sometimes, there is that one thing that makes you feel out of place at times. For me, that was my hearing impairment”.
Karina Cotran is a professional communicator and a published author of a collection of short stories centered around growing up with hearing loss.
Karina’s experiences inspired her to launch her blog: Hearing Differently. This blog and her book are some of the ways that she embraced her journey as a hearing loss advocate for young professionals in the deaf and hard of hearing community. Through her writing, she wants to empower those with hearing loss by providing a platform that those with hearing loss can relate to, and that others can learn from.
Karina’s Why
I think back when I was 18 years old. I was just starting my second year of university and this was when my self-esteem was at the lowest. Not because of the typical things that bother you when you are eighteen, it was really because of my hearing loss. I let it rule over a lot of aspects of my life back then. Like I said before, I let it stop me from actively dating. I let it stop me from doing extracurricular activities at school. From being who I wanted to be. I felt such a disconnect between the person that I wanted to be versus the person I actually was, at the time. I had these constant negative thoughts and they always led back to my hearing loss. It wasn’t until I said: “I can’t do this. I can’t live with this constant self-pity when there is no self-pity that needs to be had right now.” When you are eighteen, you should be exploring everything and anything. Learning how to become the person that you want to be. In the moments that I felt like giving up, I think back to my eighteen-year-old self and the thoughts that went through my head at the time. I never want anyone to go through those feelings. I want people to constantly feel excited and proud of who they are and what they are doing, regardless of their hearing loss or not.
Connect with Karina
Website: Hearing Differently
Book: Hearing Differently: Growing Up with a Cochlear Implant
Twitter: @HearDifferently
Instagram: @hearingdifferently
Connect with Naomi
Website – naomihaile.com
Instagram – @naomiahaile
Twitter – @naomiathaile
LinkedIn – Naomi Haile