Cut off From the World of People

Imagine walking into an AA meeting where people are talking, laughing, teasing each other--and you can't hear or participate. You feel disconnected from your environment but you desperately want recovery. You muster the courage to approach your fellow AA members and put out your hand. They return the greeting and start talking to you but you can't understand them. That's as far as it goes--a brief greeting and a misunderstood communication. You continue going to meetings, receiving the message through an interpreter and a few fellow members who know sign language. You try saying "Hello" to more and more people. You are pushed on by that yearning deep in your soul to associate with your fellows--to understand and be understood by them. But you are left with yourself and the silence you have known for so long. The isolation is sometimes overwhelming.