Can HOH genuinely identify as Deaf?

deafdyke said:
I would assume you'd also have issues finding a HLAA/hearing health group locally as well. When you're in the middle of nowhere specialized resources/support groups are hard to find.
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I did try to find something ... nothing. and it is hard to find something like this in a place where you are in the middle of nowhere. Been there :(
 
peekaboo said:
if any one is looking for a deaf community events. you can yahoo it bing it or even google it. The information is out there :D
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Jane B. said:
I have a challenge for you. What can you find around Centralia, Illinois. NOT Chicago! That is at least 5 hours away.
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I brought this up because peekaboo's post seemed to be from someone that thought there is a deaf community with meetups everywhere.

I know I am in a desert for this.
 
Jane B. said:
I brought this up because peekaboo's post seemed to be from someone that thought there is a deaf community with meetups everywhere.

I know I am in a desert for this.
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I did not take peekaboo's post as implying that there are meet-ups everywhere. It's obvious that there wouldn't be in this vast nation of ours.
 
I was only asking a question I didn't say I didn't believe you that you didn't have a deaf community in your area, that is in my place as well even before when I moved to where I am now. sorry you dont have any deafies to talk to.
 
Jane B. said:
I brought this up because peekaboo's post seemed to be from someone that thought there is a deaf community with meetups everywhere.

I know I am in a desert for this.
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I live in a small mountain town, a 2 hour drive 100 miles minimum to the big city where there's a small Deaf community..
 
Jane B. said:
I brought this up because peekaboo's post seemed to be from someone that thought there is a deaf community with meetups everywhere.

I know I am in a desert for this.
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Exactly. If there's not ASL stuff, there's usually not HLAA/Hearing Health/ HOH specific stuff either. I know you know this, but I'm saying this for any lurkers. HOH kids and people NEED specialized experiences, like camps, classes, exposure to other dhh kids. Being HOH and having HOH skills will NOT allow dhh kids to magicly assimulate into the mainstream, as is claimed by an AVT approach.They still need specialized supports.
 
I had mild hearing loss my entire life, and I struggled with speech. I never identified as hearing or deaf, because I didn't struggle as much as my school seemed to think. And it was never brought up in my house hold. I also didn't learn sign language because my doctor told me I'd grow out if it. (Water build up in my ear) When I got older I got severely Ill (rare tuberculosis) and I am left with severe hearing loss in my left, but in the 2000 hz I spike up to moderate. In my right ear I have moderate loss and I spoke to mild at 2000 Hz. I don't identify as Deaf. When asked, I tell people I am hard of hearing. My family tends to refer to me as 'kinda deaf kinda not' and that has always frustrated me lol
 
zeefour said:
What I've found hard is opportunities to be more involved in the Deaf community. I take ASL at the Deaf charter school in our city but even the most advanced class isn't quite advanced enough. I'm one of the few Hoh/Deaf other than the teachers who teach at the school. Its mostly hearing family members. Even in our major city theres one or two Deaf events a month same with the other city 1 hour + away. A lot of times i can't even make those events. Ive tried Glide to practice my ASL but its mostly hearing students.

How can a mainstreamed HoH girl be more imvolved in the Deaf community like this??
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I totally relate to this. I always feel like I'm stuck in the middle. I don't function like a hearing person anymore because I find it extremely difficult to follow conversations, but I don't know ASL very well. I have a hard time fitting in the deaf culture as well.
 
Hello all,
i just signed on to this site.
Back story:
I have been hoh since age 5 due to accident. had an eardrum graft age 7. have always expected to be completely deaf eventually. taught myself some asl 20 yrs ago; in part because i have always expected that i will need it eventually, and in part because, at the time, i worked next to a school for deaf and wanted my deaf customers to get the same as hearing customers.

I have never been involved in the deaf community. I have always thought of myself as on the fringes. Though my hoh has affected assimilating into hearing society all of my life. It has most certainly cost me in my professional life.
I find deaf forums to be more genuine people as online profiles go, and i relate a little more to the down to earth, honest need of communication and community.

Perhaps nievely, I did not expect that I would be considered 'not deaf enough', but there are always peeps like that in any sub-culture....
My question is how prevelent is that mindset?
If I can still hear (sort of) does that mean no one will want to communicate with me?
 
multifacetedlady said:
Perhaps nievely, I did not expect that I would be considered 'not deaf enough', but there are always peeps like that in any sub-culture....
My question is how prevelent is that mindset?
If I can still hear (sort of) does that mean no one will want to communicate with me?
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I can't speak to "how prevalent" that attitude is but can say that no it won't mean that no one will communicate with you if you can still sort of hear. Be yourself- there are many many d/Deaf who will welcome you and will be more than willing to chat/communicate with you in ASL. Like any other group, there are patient people, people who love to help or teach and people who can be grumpy sourpusses and knock down anyone who doesn't fit their 'idea' of who is or is not Deaf etc.
 
I think there is not just "one right answer" to this question. I have struggled with identity issues for years because I grew up in a Hearing family. I learned how to sign while I was in college and did not start using hearing aids in both ears until later as an adult.

Most people in general society believe that I am a Hearing person. I viewed myself as Hearing until last fall when I was around some Deaf people I had known many years ago.

It was then that I was able to feel comfortable enough to admit that I was (and am) HoH.

I view Deaf or HoH people as having a different cultural and linguistic perspective than people in "mainstream" society. I appreciate the countless insights that Deaf people have shared with me over the years. I believe that HoH people can be part of the Deaf Community, but for me it was largely a choice to identify as HoH.
 
In the definition of Deaf that I use in all my postings, yes. The proper way to refer to a group of people is to capitalize the first letter (Americans, Comanche, etc.).

This group (i.e. Deaf) has been fragmented through post-1880 colonialism, but that does not mean anyone is any less "Deaf", any less connected, any less human. You are a part of me and my world as much as I am a part of yours. I care about you and everyone, and therefore the "Deaf" label I use is inclusive and embracing.

I leave it open for the other person to choose how they want to identify, but I make sure that how I use "Deaf" gives them the freedom to have that identification as they see fit. Inclusivity and openness.
 
BecLak said:
This is a general debate question. Yes, I mean, Culturally. However, in hearing culture, deafness is defined purely audiologically. (Only not as deafness but as hearinģ 'loss') So, where does it place many of us who are on this forum? What is the true definition? Only we ourselves can define this.
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I just looked up Exodus 4:11 ..... Interesting … I have read the Bible many times, but do not remember seeing that verse ! I often think of Job chapter 36-38 ...…
 
I am HoH on a moderate to severe scale. I've had it all my life. I was required to attend a separate class with students whom had hearing loss or were profoundly deaf for all my English coursework while also being mainstreamed with hearing students for my other classes (math, social studies, etc.) I had to take years of speech therapy and required an FM for my classes.

If anyone told me I wasn't "deaf" enough to identify as deaf, I would feel some type of way. I cannot function without my hearing aids. I won't be able to hold conversations without them, and even with my hearing aids I mostly get by with lip reading and reading body language. I grew up feeling I didn't fit anywhere between deaf and hearing, and I tried to pick up ASL. Because I was and still am around hearing people mainly, I never committed to communicating through ASL as well as I probably should have. Either way, as I had read by Lau2046, "As my former ASL teacher explained, a gentleman who was profoundly deaf and used only ASL, if you depend on the hearing aids and can't function without them, you're deaf." I agree with this wholeheartedly.
 
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BecLak said:
This is a question which tends to circulate with mirage of differing opinions. Some swinging the pendulum as far 'They're faking' or 'using SIgn Language as your primary language is the key' and many inbetween. What's your opinion? (Be nice ;-) )
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It all depends from where you are from because different countries and societies have different approaches. I am proud of being hard of hearing/ deaf , I am not embarrassed of wearing hearing aids, I have no issues with it , I have severe bilateral hearing loss.
Through my life I have endured discrimination, abuse, bullying you name it but I also had for some time parents that showed me that the universe , not the sky, is my limit . So, because I cannot educate to every single hearing person about hearing loss, it is less complicated to say “ I am deaf but can hear some sounds”, and to a fellow deaf/hard of hearing I say that I am hard of hearing ...
People understand better about the differences between being blind and being able to see but needing glasses to see than about hearing loss.
 
Arctic Rave said:
I am HoH on a moderate to severe scale. I've had it all my life. I was required to attend a separate class with students whom had hearing loss or were profoundly deaf for all my English coursework while also being mainstreamed with hearing students for my other classes (math, social studies, etc.) I had to take years of speech therapy and required an FM for my classes.

If anyone told me I wasn't "deaf" enough to identify as deaf, I would feel some type of way. I cannot function without my hearing aids. I won't be able to hold conversations without them, and even with my hearing aids I mostly get by with lip reading and reading body language. I grew up feeling I didn't fit anywhere between deaf and hearing, and I tried to pick up ASL. Because I was and still am around hearing people mainly, I never committed to communicating through ASL as well as I probably should have. Either way, as I had read by Lau2046, "As my former ASL teacher explained, a gentleman who was profoundly deaf and used only ASL, if you depend on the hearing aids and can't function without them, you're deaf." I agree with this wholeheartedly.
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What you just describe yourself here, is the exact same way as I grew up. Thank you for sharing your story as I feel I am not alone in this walk when it comes to the asl, deaf community, and feeling not belonging anywhere. IT'S Hard!
 
Ezdblue said:
It all depends from where you are from because different countries and societies have different approaches. I am proud of being hard of hearing/ deaf , I am not embarrassed of wearing hearing aids, I have no issues with it , I have severe bilateral hearing loss.
Through my life I have endured discrimination, abuse, bullying you name it but I also had for some time parents that showed me that the universe , not the sky, is my limit . So, because I cannot educate to every single hearing person about hearing loss, it is less complicated to say “ I am deaf but can hear some sounds”, and to a fellow deaf/hard of hearing I say that I am hard of hearing ...
People understand better about the differences between being blind and being able to see but needing glasses to see than about hearing loss.
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Agree about the blind than the hearing loss. I can totally agree with this statement
 
peekaboo said:
What you just describe yourself here, is the exact same way as I grew up. Thank you for sharing your story as I feel I am not alone in this walk when it comes to the asl, deaf community, and feeling not belonging anywhere. IT'S Hard!
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I think that we were kind of “victims” of a few issues: in one hand they wanted us integrated and there was a war against sign language ( having different sign language by country rather than language did not help) , so hence the lip reading (only that men had moustaches, not everyone vocalised as clear and nice as the therapist and lightening was not always optimal), and were caught in the middle of the hearing world and the silent world , and in limbo mambo ...
I felt empowered (still am) when as a child I took off my HA and retired to my inner calmer quiet world , sometimes the Hearing world is too fast , too noisy, too tiring.
And some adults at school and around me had the attitude that if I looked like a hearing person perhaps eventually I would become one ....? .
And sometimes I feel that the HoH have the options of being part of 2 worlds and not really fully accepted.

Deaf people told me off because I am not good with SL .... and hearing people told me off because I don’t hear , and HoH people feel embarrassed of their HA . I would have then in Neon pink glow in the dark so everyone could have more awareness
 
Ezdblue said:
I think that we were kind of “victims” of a few issues: in one hand they wanted us integrated and there was a war against sign language ( having different sign language by country rather than language did not help) , so hence the lip reading (only that men had moustaches, not everyone vocalised as clear and nice as the therapist and lightening was not always optimal), and were caught in the middle of the hearing world and the silent world , and in limbo mambo ...
I felt empowered (still am) when as a child I took off my HA and retired to my inner calmer quiet world , sometimes the Hearing world is too fast , too noisy, too tiring.
And some adults at school and around me had the attitude that if I looked like a hearing person perhaps eventually I would become one ....? .
And sometimes I feel that the HoH have the options of being part of 2 worlds and not really fully accepted.

Deaf people told me off because I am not good with SL .... and hearing people told me off because I don’t hear , and HoH people feel embarrassed of their HA . I would have then in Neon pink glow in the dark so everyone could have more awareness
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You said the words right out of my mouth.
 
Legal speak, if you can't hear without hearing-aids, you are legally deaf.

Same goes for if you can't see without your glasses, you are legally blind.

Gadgets don't count.
 
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