“Did I play well? Did you like it?”
For six years, the information leaflet of the Slovenian Deafblind Association DLAN sat there. Six years! Again and again, she picked it up, read it, put it back down. And kept wondering: “Is he really deafblind? Will they even accept him there? After all, he hasn’t been accepted anywhere…”
When she finally reached out to the association, things started to move. Matija came to the first meeting open, warm, immediately ready to participate. As if he already knew it all.
He had been with the deaf. He had been with the blind. But he had never found his place.
In the deafblind community, however, he became accepted, equal, proud.
Matija is a gentleman. Respectful. Persistent. He always asks:
“What will you tell me? What do you think of me?”
“Did I play well? Did you like it?”
Matija plays the guitar. Even if no sound comes out, Matija plays. During cowboy dance performances, with his hat and checkered shirt, he sits confidently on stage. Because he is part of the community. Because he is home.
He knows geography very well. During travel lectures, he sometimes even corrects the lecturer—with breathtaking precision. And he just nods. Proudly. In his own way.
Matija is proof that the right community does not seek perfection. It seeks heart.
And Matija has a lot of it. Also for his personal assistant, who always stands by his side.
Spomenka Pranič
Ljubljana, 9.9.2025
