I’m not very good at it. Anyone who knows me can tell the difference between a smile and a grimace. And no way in hell can I hide the flinch every time The Sound That Caused All Of The Problems gets louder. I’ve literally had to flee parties I was honestly enjoying because they just got too loud.

I feel kinda bad. Once, the sound that caused it was my cousin showing off how good he’d gotten on the piano at our family reunion. He was good. Really. But oh my god, the noise, the sound, on top of the cross-chatter, the crying baby, the dog trying to beg for my turkey, the story I was trying to listen to… it was too much. My cousin looked so upset when I literally had to cover my ears and leave the room.

I tracked him down later and explained what happened, and I even told him to please keep playing. It was just a bad day for me and my ears, and the discomfort caused by my disability wasn’t his fault, or anyone’s fault really.