What Do I Have In Common With New York State Governor David Paterson?

In the past few months my day job has picked up to the point where I haven’t had a lot of time do write about hearing loss. In fact, I haven’t had much time even to think about my hearing loss.

That’s a pretty amazing fact, given that only several years ago I thought about my hearing loss all the time and never imagined I’d function “normally” again. I’ve written before about how the brain gradually adapts and compensates for deficiencies, and how amazed I have been at the extent of my ability to function at higher and higher levels as time goes on. It’s hard to describe. That’s why I love the fact that David Paterson, the new governor of New York State, is demonstrating how and why he is able to do one of the world’s most demanding jobs even though he is blind. Stephen Kuusisto, a blind author and educator, wrote an Op-Ed article in the New York Times this week that talks about this coping process very eloquently. It resonates well with anyone who has gone through the process of learning how to work around their hearing loss:

I imagine the future governor’s information-gathering skills are supple and inexhaustible. Blind people are invariably creative and resourceful. Obviously we’re good listeners. But what people may not know is that learning to have a keen sense for what others are talking about requires developing an equally sharp curiosity about human beings. When people talk to me, I can’t just listen; I am also compelled to take stock of the person behind the words….That’s perhaps the most important thing for the public to understand about professionals who are blind — we are by nature tireless in acquiring information, and we remember virtually every detail of what we read or hear.

I’ve found in business and life generally that dealing with a disability sharpens you in every other way. I need to know more going into a meeting and be more comprehensive in my follow-up. I have to think about the story behind the story, and understand on a deeper level who and what I am dealing with than people who can get by on more superficial information by hearing only what they need to, rather than truly listening. I know it’s a cliche to say that sometimes adversity brings with it certain gifts, but it’s true.