<< Please drag the arrows to see before & after underwater transformation >>
My name is Elisa and I’m 30 years old. I was born and raised in Trussville, AL.
I’m hard of hearing and I wear hearing aids in each ear. I got my first pair of hearing aids at age 5!
What inspired you to be involved in the Underwater Transformation Project?
Sam Tokita inspired me because she’s such a badass. I love her attitude. She’s so vulnerable and strong and brave. She’s always encouraging me to do new things.
What were your goals for the photo shoot?
My hearing loss makes everything sound like it’s underwater, so I was stoked to represent my disability that way. I also wear contact lenses and knew I wouldn’t be able to wear them underwater so I was a bit nervous about not being about to see or hear during our session. With that in mind, I made it my goal to just connect with my body & focus on my breath. This whole experience was so fun & freeing! I found myself naturally wanting to play once I was in the water. Holding my breath, while striking a pose while trying to stay calm was chaos but it really pushed me to breatheeeee, which I loved!
How was your mood after you finished?
After wrapping, my mood was ecstatic. I realized that the water was very therapeutic for me and I should find ways to submerge myself more often.
How was Erena working with you?
Erena was great! She really let me do my thing and go at my own pace. She was great at reading my body language and knowing when I was pushing myself. She gave me the complete freedom to do what I wanted. From attire, HMU, pose, etc. My only advice would be that if I were to shoot again, I would love my verbal direction on what’s working visually. Ex: “Let’s do that pose again, but this time point your toes & toss your hair back.”
Would you recommend underwater transformation to other survivors or anyone?
Yesssss – if you feel the call to do it, DO IT! So much fun.
What do you want the world to know about your disability?
To make the world more accessible for the DHH, deaf and heard of hearing community, always caption your videos! Access to communication is life-changing. My best advice for interacting with the DHH community is to ask what that person’s preference is. Some DHH folks are lip-readers, some need super clear articulation, some have a “better” ear that they use to listen, some only communicate via sign language so writing or typing things out on a phone to communicate is helpful, etc.
When I first meet a new friend or coworker, I always joke that I’m not rude, I’m just deaf. So if they ever try to talk to me & I don’t answer, then they can tap me on the shoulder to get my attention. If you’re living with someone whose DHH, flashing the lights or waving from across the room is a great way to get someone’s attention! Waving up close to someone’s face isn’t rude in the Deaf community – lol.
I’m a lip-reader so I always joke, “if I can’t see the white in your eyeballs, then I can’t hear you.” Which essentially means that I always need to be face-to-face with whoever is speaking. I can’t communicate with someone from a room away. I can’t hear people in the dark or when the lights are out, and I often can’t hear the person sitting next to me. I may only hear 5-6 words clearly out of an entire 30-word sentence. So, I need the person speaking right in front of me where I can use visual & context cues to fill in the gaps so I can figure out what they’re saying. My hearing loss isn’t necessarily about volume level but more about clarity. The world to me always sounds muffled like I’m underwater.
Each HOH/Deaf person has their own boundaries with the hearing world – but I’ve learned that most of the time I enjoy being in my silent deaf world. I’ll accommodate hearing people when I have to work or network or socialize but on my off days I am unplugged!!! I’m allowing my brain to rest & existing in peace with the silence. Even my partner knows that some days I am not up to the facade of being hearing.
I think the biggest misconception is that hearing aids correct hearing loss like glasses correct vision, but that is false. My hearing aids increase the overall volume of the world which helps me hear what’s going on around me, but it doesn’t provide better speech clarity. It doesn’t “correct” or perfect my hearing. It kinda just brings me more auditory awareness, and helps me say “what?” a few less times a day – lol.
Elisa’s is a film director based in LA. Please check out her IG account!
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