Being different (hearing loss only)

deafdyke said:
First grade when I was mainstreamed. I was in a self contained preschool program for about four and a half years.
BWHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!
Oh yeah that oh so lovely FM with the S&M harness!
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even here on alldeaf, I feel like I was the only one who had to wear it. Good to know someone experienced this as well. You can't find any informations, pictures, company name, and such. It's like a secret or something or no one want to talk about it.
 
Lighthouse77 said:
even here on alldeaf, I feel like I was the only one who had to wear it. Good to know someone experienced this as well. You can't find any informations, pictures, company name, and such. It's like a secret or something or no one want to talk about it.
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I wore FMs when I was a baby then stopped until middle school when the school tried to force me to wear them. I broke them on purpose so EPIC fail for my school! LOL!
 
I was hearie when I was younger, but trust me I was plenty different already. I couldn't keep my yapper shut and subsequently spent a substantial amout of time at the desk outside the principle office. after a couple years, I brought a marker with me and wrote in big letters on top of the desk "Doug's second home" I got a couple days off from school for that, haha. I guess thats why I admire teachers so much now, because they have to put up with little shits like me.
 
Well my hearing loss really hit hard when I was in my early 20s and substitute teaching. Long story short there was a situation arose that I didn't understand was whats going on because I couldn't comprehend. Afterwards one of the teachers commented to another teacher that I knew that I shouldn't be in teaching if I couldn't hear well.
 
I think when I was about 7, I realised that I was always going to get hearing tests and my brother, who is hearing, never had to go. Also getting called out of classes to go to teacher of the deaf and have my friends saying 'where did you go?'
 
GuidoSarducci said:
Well my hearing loss really hit hard when I was in my early 20s and substitute teaching. Long story short there was a situation arose that I didn't understand was whats going on because I couldn't comprehend. Afterwards one of the teachers commented to another teacher that I knew that I shouldn't be in teaching if I couldn't hear well.[/QUOTE]

That teacher is wrong. I am profoundly deaf and I am a teacher. Some people are just plain stupid. Always looking at what we cant do instead of finding ways to accodomate us. :roll: Pls tell that teacher that she is very wrong.
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Loghead said:
I don't know. I never actually really thought about it. I always used to forget that I was HOH. I don't think that there was ever a time where it kicked in that I was different because I've always known, but have forgotten. People never treated me any differently... well except for maybe a few (but I didn't realize that they were until I got older).
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same.
 
jinxedkitten said:
Hm, my gene pool is crowded with deafies so I never noticed (or cared about) my hearing loss until I was a preteen. The discovery slapped me across the face when I was a new student at CSDF... whoa mama, I don't belong to either world! I'm a "hearing deafie" for those who chant for deaf poowwah and I am the clueless HOH gal in a crowd of yabbering hearies.

Even to this day, I am still trying to figure out where I belong. Fortunately, I don't mind having a foot in both worlds. I am able to help hearing and deaf folks converse with one another so hey, why not make my identity dilemma a productive experience for others? ;)
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both of my feet are in both worlds :aw:

I just hope it doesn't get split so far apart that my pants will rip from my rear end :giggle:
 
I got my first FM (Black fabric box with receiver/speaker, transmitter had a clip on mic and tucked right in the box) that sat on my desk and made it louder to EVERYONE. I got it in 4th grade, a month or so after I got a bad grade on a book presentation because she told me 20 times to Speak up!! but I didn't, because I was speaking back at my hearing level. Yeah. Then I was taken to the aud (already had speech therapy and crap for cleft palate) and they approved me for an FM and decided to keep an eye on it. Some people thought it was weird, some thought it was great because when the teacher left the room to yell at someone we could still hear it. I guess I didn't really understand until 7th grade, when I got hearing aids. I guess I was used to viewing the FM as a school-only thing, and maybe I thought that the "problem" was with the school, and not with me? I guess then it kicked in, wearing hearing aids <all> the time instead of just using equipt. at school.
 
Frisky Feline said:
How old were you when you realize that you were different than others who can hear?

I know this question is kind of dull. But I am curious. :fruit:
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this is good question.
i have not thought about it when i was a child. i was not focused on me more than any thing. from me growing up in hearing world as well attended in the public school contains deaf class. i noticed the hearing students around me as i realized im different as i figured my hearing with ears were not working like broken lol. i had never thought about it as realized. i was about between 8-12. later on, my teen years. i was about 15 the most, i realized how different am i than hearing person can hear. i alway feel they (hearing) are so lucky to hear and be able to do any thing. i know deaf can do as much as hearing person. i did had a dream of me being hearing as what is like being hearing not deaf. odd feeling!
lot of hearing friends kept telling me they said they wish i can hear! i told them i know but i'm happy being deaf.
 
shel90 said:
GuidoSarducci said:
Well my hearing loss really hit hard when I was in my early 20s and substitute teaching. Long story short there was a situation arose that I didn't understand was whats going on because I couldn't comprehend. Afterwards one of the teachers commented to another teacher that I knew that I shouldn't be in teaching if I couldn't hear well.[/QUOTE]

That teacher is wrong. I am profoundly deaf and I am a teacher. Some people are just plain stupid. Always looking at what we cant do instead of finding ways to accodomate us. :roll: Pls tell that teacher that she is very wrong.
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Thats interesting, what kind of teacher are you? (What subject/level?) My bro is a university professor and has the same loss as I do (his is more advanced however, he is profound while I am still only severe :P ) I could understand their argument when it comes to issues of classroom safety, understanding questions from the students, etc. In the same school actually they did have a teacher later who was completely deaf, but she taught the sign language class.
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Born into a Deaf family, I never felt "not normal" until I went to hearing school then that was when I felt out of place because I was comfortable at home signing my natural language.

Growing up, I assumed everyone was like me- Deaf.
 
I have memories that go back to when I was 2 years old. I believe it was when I noticed other kids that don't wear hearing aids that made me aware that I was different, and that was when I went to the preschool for the deaf. A lot of those kids had brothers or sisters that were hearies that joined in on birthday parties or whatever. And of course, I have 2 hearie cousins that I played with around that time.

I believe I was 6 when I started going to a mainstream elementary school when I really realized that I was different. Things got weird when I was 7 after my mom and stepdad divorced and I moved to another school. I had the wrong teacher guiding me. I mean, she was oppressive. I knew I was more different as the teacher targeted me with anger. I was just too deaf to learn at a normal pace. That teacher was a teacher for the HOH. I still have dreams.

Growing up, I fought hard to be like the hearies. All the hearies were pleased with that. And the frustrations to keep up was insurmountable. But, I did my best and studied biology at Purdue University for a year and a half before dropping out.
 
Count me in the category of not really giving much thought to being different because of my hearing issues.

I really don't recall having any issues w/ it - unlike my shortness, in School.

-charles
 
different

i was 4 when i became partially hearing it was hard starting school not knowing how to talk
 
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