For my project I decided to pretend I was mute. I wanted to know what it is like to not be able to speak. I never really thought about what it is like for people who have this disability. So for three hours I didn't speak a word. I learned about how much I take speech for granted, how aggravating it is not being able to talk, and how much more I listen while not talking. .
I take speech that I am able to use everyday for granted. I never realized how blessed I am just to be able to communicate with others. It would be a very lonely world it seems like to not be able to speak. I had to write down things on a piece of paper because when I tried to use my hands to help me talk, even though I knew what I was trying to say, others had no idea about what I trying to say. Until I put myself in the shoes of someone with this disability I never realized what they had to go through. I only had to go through this for three hours, but some people have to live their whole life this way. .
It is very aggravating not being able to talk. It would be very hard to handle being mute my whole life. I have a new respect for the people out there who have to deal with this. This presented a real problem for me in Geometry where I usually like to answer the question quickly to the problem. While I usually just call out the answer I just had to sit there and listen to someone else call out the answer. This just about drove me crazy. Then during English it was very aggravating because I couldn't ask any questions about this project that I am doing because of course I couldn't talk. It was also hard not to talk to my friends because they would be having a conversation that I wanted to join but couldn't because of this. It is needless to say I couldn't do this always. .
Although it was very hard for me to be quite, I also noticed I listened a lot more. I usually am so caught up in my conversations that I don't notice what is going on around me, or I might miss something important the teacher says.