Am I deaf?

Also, am I being dense? Pre- lingual? Lingual coming from Latin and referring to the tongue.

Before the use of the tongue as in speech. Or does someone think it has a deeper meaning?
 
Bottesini said:
Means he can't hear you. ;)
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well I can't hear him either... but i'm not DEAF... i'm Deaf... and my deafness is getting stronger in my right ear... :) (don't want to say hearing is getting worse...) but really... it could be interesting to know what he means by DEAF... because he uses it all the time...
 
DeafBadger said:
I don't know if I was explictedly told that, but that was the message I got, whether intended or not. There were situations I really needed help with but did not, because I did not think I was supposed to ask.
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It was implict for me as well. My parents resented all the time they had to help me with the homework while I was in mainstream and it endup in in screaming fests and they told me my brother and sister didn't need help like I did regarding homework.
 
It may be an academic thought: this computer has NO sound. My Implant is connected-don't hear a thing except the keys "clicking".

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
sunny_signs said:
We should put best info/threads from here into book. Make required reading parents deaf babies.
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NO it should NOT be required reading for parents with deaf kids! That mean it would be mandatory and we do not need government telling us how to raise our kids!
 
I when to a doctor years ago to see if I could have surgery to hear better. The doctor told me I was not a good candidate as I could lose the hearing I do have. He told me if I was deaf and could not hear a knock on a door and he knocked on a door to show I could hear it. I do not think I am deaf , I call myself HOH . I do not think I am broken , I feel broke at times but not broken!!
 
sense them issues on my label hearing impairing I said D.E.A.F
reason I aware it
I aware it people think so hearing my label! I am D.E.A.F
 
Wait....now I am confused! What is the difference between deaf,Deaf, DEAF, and HOH?
Hmm...if it is out topic...then sorry!
 
When you talk to professional people who are not Deaf or Hard of Hearing they are not going to see you as a Deaf or Hard of Hearing person will see you. They are going to have a different view of your abilities and what that means.

Professionals are more likely to look at whether you are able to get disability rather then from a cultural or auditory standpoint, or perhaps just and auditory standpoint. On the other hand, people in your condition will view it from a cultural or auditory standpoint.

I've been hearing impaired for my whole life and do not consider myself deaf even though I am deaf in one ear and have profound hearing loss in the other, but the state believes I am deaf.

Personally, I've never gotten hung up on the labels, but you may have to use them to explain yourself to people from time to time. For the average hearing person, it doesn't matter whether you say you are deaf or HoH because it all means the same to someone who does not understand the difference, you can't hear.
 
sarahkhan said:
Wait....now I am confused! What is the difference between deaf,Deaf, DEAF, and HOH?
Hmm...if it is out topic...then sorry!
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To begin with, I shall attempt to define these labels in terms of self-identity (i.e. how deaf people use them).

Deaf (with a big 'D') is used by people whose home is in the Deaf community. They will use sign language as their primary language. It is a cultural label not a medical label, so it isn't defined by how much hearing loss (HL) you have [see below], but by whether you share your life & beliefs with other Deaf people.

However most people with a hearing loss use spoken language (by preference or circumstances) and are not part of the signing Deaf community. Many of this group prefer to use the HOH label as their home is in the hearing world and their self-identity is as a person with nearly-normal-hearing, barely different from other fully-hearing people. Other people with hearing loss prefer to use the deaf label as they see their deafness shaping their identity. It's a matter of personal preference whether to use HOH or deaf so a person with profound HL may see themselves as 'HOH' and a different person with mild HL will describe themselves as 'deaf'. You can even use the word 'HOH' to describe yourself to one group and 'deaf' to another. The term "oral deaf" is sometimes used to distinguish people who communicate orally rather than use sign.


Moving from how Deaf/deaf/HOH people use these labels to how hearing people use them is where is gets complicated! Especially when hearing people often use the label 'deaf' in a negative way ("deaf & dumb"). Plus 'deafness' has legal and medical definitions as part of obtaining welfare/social/medical benefits. So a welfare worker may tell you that you are not deaf because you don't meet their criteria. Note that they are using the labels differently from a person using them to define their self-identity.

Finally there are audiological definitions of HL measured in dB and are classified as mild, moderate, severe & profound. These are functional definitions rather than self-identity labels.


P.S. As far as I know, only drphil uses the term 'DEAF' (all caps)
 
I see myself as deaf and slowly becoming Deaf. According to the people I met at the get-together - HOH is applied to deaf people who grew up oral and can hear with hearing aids. So, from their view, I'm HOH. I told them I'm stone cold deaf and they said, it doesn't matter, I'm still HOH. That's how they distinguish between those who grew up oral and those who grew up Deaf (deaf schools, sign language as primary language).

According to the hearing world, I'm hearing impaired or as one way over politically correct person said, "auditorally challenged". My mother raised me to tell others I'm hard of hearing and I never liked that, it didn't sound right to me. I knew I was more than just hard of hearing, that I was deaf.

Whatever labels people have for me, doesn't really matter that much in the end. I know what I am and that's good enough for me.
 
deafskeptic said:
It was implict for me as well. My parents resented all the time they had to help me with the homework while I was in mainstream and it endup in in screaming fests and they told me my brother and sister didn't need help like I did regarding homework.
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That wasn't very nice. I'm sorry they said/did that to you.
 
DeafCaroline said:
I see myself as deaf and slowly becoming Deaf. According to the people I met at the get-together - HOH is applied to deaf people who grew up oral and can hear with hearing aids. So, from their view, I'm HOH. I told them I'm stone cold deaf and they said, it doesn't matter, I'm still HOH. That's how they distinguish between those who grew up oral and those who grew up Deaf (deaf schools, sign language as primary language).

According to the hearing world, I'm hearing impaired or as one way over politically correct person said, "auditorally challenged". My mother raised me to tell others I'm hard of hearing and I never liked that, it didn't sound right to me. I knew I was more than just hard of hearing, that I was deaf.

Whatever labels people have for me, doesn't really matter that much in the end. I know what I am and that's good enough for me.
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I got news for you. We consider you Deaf.
 
DeafCaroline said:
I see myself as deaf and slowly becoming Deaf. According to the people I met at the get-together - HOH is applied to deaf people who grew up oral and can hear with hearing aids. So, from their view, I'm HOH. I told them I'm stone cold deaf and they said, it doesn't matter, I'm still HOH. That's how they distinguish between those who grew up oral and those who grew up Deaf (deaf schools, sign language as primary language).

According to the hearing world, I'm hearing impaired or as one way over politically correct person said, "auditorally challenged". My mother raised me to tell others I'm hard of hearing and I never liked that, it didn't sound right to me. I knew I was more than just hard of hearing, that I was deaf.

Whatever labels people have for me, doesn't really matter that much in the end. I know what I am and that's good enough for me.
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Only when writing can the distinction between 'Deaf' & 'deaf' be made (as long as it doesn't start at the beginning of a sentence!). When speaking the words 'Deaf' and 'deaf' are identical, so I have to qualify the word depending on who I'm talking to (e.g. "signing deaf", "oral deaf", "hard of hearing", "hearing impaired", "Big D deaf", "small d deaf", etc.) I wonder if this is true also in ASL?
 
AJWSmith said:
Only when writing can the distinction between 'Deaf' & 'deaf' be made (as long as it doesn't start at the beginning of a sentence!). When speaking the words 'Deaf' and 'deaf' are identical, so I have to qualify the word depending on who I'm talking to (e.g. "signing deaf", "oral deaf", "hard of hearing", "hearing impaired", "Big D deaf", "small d deaf", etc.) I wonder if this is true also in ASL?
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My fist raised high above my head should prevent any doubt. :lol:
 
AJWSmith said:
Only when writing can the distinction between 'Deaf' & 'deaf' be made (as long as it doesn't start at the beginning of a sentence!). When speaking the words 'Deaf' and 'deaf' are identical, so I have to qualify the word depending on who I'm talking to (e.g. "signing deaf", "oral deaf", "hard of hearing", "hearing impaired", "Big D deaf", "small d deaf", etc.) I wonder if this is true also in ASL?
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that sounds way too complicated for me. When I meet people for the first time, I say I'm deaf. From experience, telling them I'm hearing impaired or hard of hearing gives the impression I only have mild hearing loss and then that leads to them not making any changes in how they speak to me then I have to explain to them that no, hearing impaired does not mean I only have mild hearing loss then they get confused then I have to give them a long explanation.

Telling them I'm deaf leads to no mistaken assumptions about the level of my hearing loss and makes communication easier from the get go.
 
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