Any hard-of-hearing ppl raised in the hearing world?

Im hoh. Its tougher than most people realize. Socially, you get left out a lot.

And there is some truth to the second class citizen remark. Cuz youre the one with the problem. Everyone is normal except for you.
 
I too was raised in the hearing world and am still mostly in hearing world due to hearing hubby, mother and children at home. I am the only deafie in family. It was never easy. I missed out on a lot and still do. My kids are good enough to make sure I understand, but then it gets a little weird since I am an adult and have to have my kids help me. I can handle it, but hearing people assume I have mental problems or something since I can't do a simple thing like ordering things for myself. It was always hard in school while growing up since I lived in a small town and was the only HOH person there. They didn't know what to do with me. Kids get picked on terribly when they are "different".
 
mrk08 said:
I just want to know what your experiences are like....such as talking to people in background noise, going to the movies, ordering food in the restaurant or dealing with customer service, talking on the phone, etc. (anything that hinders your ability to communicate/hear effectively)

I'm hard of hearing but I wear hearing aids and can pretty much hear what people say in favourable situations. I was raised in the hearing world and do not know too many deaf/hard-of-hearing people. I can lipread somewhat but I don't know sign language.

From my experiences, I find that it's extremely difficult for me to hear what other people say when there's a lot of background noise...I use an FM microphone device for one-on-one situations but group situations are pretty tough.

Do you have to deal with a lot of people who don't seem to understand what it's like to be hard of hearing? Do you sometimes get embarrassed or frustrated when you're not able to hear what other people say at times or when you're in a social situation (like a party or restaurant) and you can't follow the conversation...so you're basically out of the loop and not in tune with the conversation at all? I experience this constantly and I want to do something about it...maybe I need better hearing aids that helps to diminish the background noise (although they only work to a certain extent). Do you have any suggestions/tips to try to become more involved in social situations rather than being quiet the entire time?
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Wow, it's like you're describing my life LOL!!! I have poor social skills for this reason. Most of the time I feel left out and have to fight feelings of loneliness. I don't really have any tips, because I haven't been able to overcome it. The few friends I have are mostly online and we chat/email.

I wish I could learn ASL and get involved in the deaf community, but no matter how much I try, I just haven't had the opportunity to do so. I don't know anybody that knows ASL, only a few strangers I've met briefly and people I no longer have contact with. There are classes offered, I think, but charge money, and I just don't know how to find anyone.

I operate fine in the hearing world as far as my speech and education, but socially I'm always at least partially cut off.
 
Learning ASL would be a great option.

In the meantime, have you thought about using your FM system at restaurants, parties, etc.?

When I still had enough residual hearing to use mine, I carried my Comtek everywhere with me.
 
i grew up and live in a hearing world which is why i dont know many deaf people. i can read lips rather well and speak well due to extensive speech thereapy. i can also sign in asl which i love to do. im late deafened i lost my hearing and became fully deaf at age 21. every bass tournament i fish they are all hearing im the only deaf person on the bass master s weekend series as far as i know. I do know however that elite pro kevin langill is part deaf and he is a very cool person.
 
BassHunter69 said:
i grew up and live in a hearing world which is why i dont know many deaf people. i can read lips rather well and speak well due to extensive speech thereapy. i can also sign in asl which i love to do. im late deafened i lost my hearing and became fully deaf at age 21. every bass tournament i fish they are all hearing im the only deaf person on the bass master s weekend series as far as i know. I do know however that elite pro kevin langill is part deaf and he is a very cool person.
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Um, I don't know how to break this to you, but you are not "late deafened," as you're relatively young. :cool2:
 
He's not old, Tousi, at age 21 to have lost most of his hearing.
 
I am HoH raised in a hearing world as well. I had a hard time going through school at times because I couldn't hear everything. I did take speech therapy 8th grade and first two years of HS. I did not like my HS speech teacher because she was mean to me ... and she would laugh at me when I told her I wanted to become a veterinarian. Now I am in college for Nursing ... hmm ... :hmm:
 
I was also brought up in the hearing world as a hard of hearing person although I went through a 'Deaf' stage in my mid twenties when I used to wear my hearing aids turned off as I was very sound phobic. It came as a releif when I became profoundly deaf. So people don't expect me to use speach any more. I think Shel has good advice about ASL.
 
I was raised in the hearing world, and because of that my family thinks that nothing has changed, that I can hear and understand them on the phone, when they have their backs turned, etc. It's extremely frustrating and several years ago I started to get involved in Deaf culture, but I've still got one foot in the hearing world (almost unwillingly) because all my family and friends (except my dad) are hearing and completely unaware that Deaf culture even exists.
 
All of my life except in a deaf preschool,I have been around hearing people and was mainstreamed schooled.
 
Too bad that many of us werent exposed to the Deaf community or other people like us growing up.
 
I grew up in similiar circumstances as well, but Im still unsure as to how to appopriately classify myself. I am profoundly deaf in my left ear and hard of hearing in my right ear.

BassHunter, I have to ask, have you fished on Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, AR? I know that Bass Master's has made two stops there that I know of in recent years and it is less than an hours drive from here. If your circuit ever makes a stop to Lake Dardanelle sometime, I would like to meet you.
 
Dixie said:
I grew up in similar circumstances as well, but Im still unsure as to how to appropriately classify myself. I am profoundly deaf in my left ear and hard of hearing in my right ear.

BassHunter, I have to ask, have you fished on Lake Dardanelle in Russellville, AR? I know that Bass Master's has made two stops there that I know of in recent years and it is less than an hours drive from here. If your circuit ever makes a stop to Lake Dardanelle sometime, I would like to meet you.
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Also adding to BassHunter and pek1:
I believe a term both could agree on would be postlingually deaf???
 
i think i'm postlingually deaf since i was diagnosed with a mild hearing loss at age 3 (although my former hearing aid audis all think it may have been congenital due to the fact that newborns weren't given hearing screenings during the late 60s/early 70s), but my ci audi and ci surgeon both think i'm prelingually deaf since i started losing my hearing at birth or age 3 and didn't start to talk until i was 3. hmmm.
 
To me the definition of postlingual deafness is becoming deaf after the acquisition of speech and verbal language as one's primary language. However if a child becomes deaf at age 5, and becomes fully integrated into a signing environment it is quite possible that while he may never forget spoken language, his speech could deteriorate to the point of being unintelligible and no longer useful given that he no longer has auditory feedback on the clarity of his speech and the speech of others. Makes sense?
 
Dixie said:
To me the definition of postlingual deafness is becoming deaf after the acquisition of speech and verbal language as one's primary language. However if a child becomes deaf at age 5, and becomes fully integrated into a signing environment it is quite possible that while he may never forget spoken language, his speech could deteriorate to the point of being unintelligible and no longer useful given that he no longer has auditory feedback on the clarity of his speech and the speech of others. Makes sense?
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yes it does. another reason i don't think i'm prelingual is because i had mild hearing loss at the time and wasn't classified as "deaf" -- unless you define any level of hearing loss as deaf.
 
i forgot to mention that another reason my ci audi and ci surgeon thought i was prelingually deaf was because i was born deafblind.

i guess it doesn't really matter one way or the other, but it's still something interesting to think about.
 
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