Deaf or HOH

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loopyles

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At what level of hearing loss is one considered to be deaf? I have a - 80db hearing loss and without my aids, I can hear speech but have great difficulty in understanding it. My ent, says that I am deaf. But I feel like a fake to call myself deaf when with hearing aids, I have pretting good speech recognition and have always told people that I am not deaf only hoh.

Is it a personal thing? Is it more what you identify with? Or am I just in denial as to my degree of hearing loss. That is, am I deaf but too stupid to admit it.

I cannot use a phone or cell phone without assistance of hearing aids. I cannot discern speech in noisy environments (with or without hearing aids). If somebody addresses me from across the room, I know that they have spoken but not hear what they have said.

With hearing aids, I can pretty much get by in the hearing world and "fake" or fumble along quite well :)

What about you? At what level hearing loss did you label yourself as deaf? Or do you?

I welcome your feedback.

Kay.nine :)
 
For me, I have to say that it was a toiling "decision" that I didn't want to accept when I was a teen. Filling out job applications or scholarships for people with disabilities...I would get a little confused where you check the box as to what is your disability and for about 5 minutes I would stare looking at Deaf.....but I'm hard of hearing. I can slightly hear without my hearing aid but can really hear without it when it comes to the clubs. I can read lips really well and with my hearing aid I can hear pretty okay....so..as I sit there wondering...do I check Deaf....Well, B..there is no other option. So I do. To answer your question as a teenager, I steered away from the term Deaf not only because of I'm HOH but also because I wasn't being accepted growing up in mainstream schools. Now, it seems like HOH's are classified in job apps, forms or whatever as Deaf. For me personally, it doesn't bother me now to check Deaf. I just know I'm hard of hearing.
 
Forms should use the term hearing impaired... it's more suitable for the general population of deaf and hoh, IMHO.
 
I'm hoh but I'm deaf, too. I see myself as a hoh since I am a hoh person even though I can still use the phone to talk and listen even without my hearing aid. It's a personal decison. Call whatever you want that you're comfortable with.
 
yes, we've had this convo before. I think the definition can be very fluid.
Forms should use the term hearing impaired... it's more suitable for the general population of deaf and hoh, IMHO.
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How about just dhh? Hearing impaired is more appropreate for ex hearing people. And even then, I know a lot of ex hearing people who prefer the term deaf or hoh.
 
I am an ex-heary and I would prefer deaf. But, since I was also hoh, I was still considered deaf most of my life, and now that I am total deaf, I am deaf.

Gee - that was a little confusing to me, sorry.
 
deafdyke said:
yes, we've had this convo before. I think the definition can be very fluid.

How about just dhh? Hearing impaired is more appropreate for ex hearing people. And even then, I know a lot of ex hearing people who prefer the term deaf or hoh.
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I prefer "hard of hearing' over "hearing impaired" because I don't like being defined in terms of what I don't have. Why not just call me what I am?

Deaf/hoh is situational for me. In a noisy area I say I'm deaf, cause speaking louder and clearer won't help me understand anyway. Saying "deaf" helps people understand I need tactile communication. In a quiet area I will either say I'm hard of hearing or not mention it at all, depending on how well I can understand the person I'm talking to.
 
With two hearing aids and accompanied by a hearing dog, I call myself what I want and it doesn't matter to me what other deaf people think.
 
To me it would depend on the situation that I'm in. I can't talk to people that I don't know over the phone especially women. So i say I'm deaf. I can't hear what people with accents are saying when I lip read.. To them i would say I'm deaf. but to everyone else i say I'm hearing impaired. if it is something very important then i would say that I'm deaf so that they make sure that i know what is happening
 
I have 95 loss in left hear/ 75ish in right ear; I am considered hearing impaired by my ENT.

I kinda wonder if it depends on what the Docs. definition is?


-charles
 
loopyles said:
At what level of hearing loss is one considered to be deaf? I have a - 80db hearing loss and without my aids, I can hear speech but have great difficulty in understanding it. My ent, says that I am deaf. But I feel like a fake to call myself deaf when with hearing aids, I have pretting good speech recognition and have always told people that I am not deaf only hoh.

Is it a personal thing? Is it more what you identify with? Or am I just in denial as to my degree of hearing loss. That is, am I deaf but too stupid to admit it.

I cannot use a phone or cell phone without assistance of hearing aids. I cannot discern speech in noisy environments (with or without hearing aids). If somebody addresses me from across the room, I know that they have spoken but not hear what they have said.

With hearing aids, I can pretty much get by in the hearing world and "fake" or fumble along quite well :)

What about you? At what level hearing loss did you label yourself as deaf? Or do you?

I welcome your feedback.

Kay.nine :)
Click to expand...
I'm now a little over 55 :) and my hearing got progressively worse from the time I was born. Now, it's mostly profound with only one or two non-speech hertz in the severe range. I was brought up in a hearing world. I consider myself moving from hh to mostly deaf and based on my audiogram, this is correct. I can't use any phone without my hearing aid and even then, it's with difficulty. That's why I'm enrolled in ASL I and will take ASL II in the fall.

I can't fake a thing these days. I did that probably until about five years ago.

Yes, I agree that being "deaf" is also somewhat subjective (aside from the labels used in an audiogram).
 
A loss of 75 is still in the severe range. 95 is definitely profound. (Are there some frequencies that you don't hear at all?) Some of this depends on your ability to communicate and I understand why he calls your loss hard of hearing but it's somewhat maddening...
 
Deb1hd said:
To me it would depend on the situation that I'm in. I can't talk to people that I don't know over the phone especially women. So i say I'm deaf. I can't hear what people with accents are saying when I lip read.. To them i would say I'm deaf. but to everyone else i say I'm hearing impaired. if it is something very important then i would say that I'm deaf so that they make sure that i know what is happening
Click to expand...

I have been trying to lip-read. One fascinating thing I found; There are some I can pretty-well read, while others - fer-ge-da-boud-dit! lol Mostly because those I can't read, are not moving their lips correctly (lazy lips? lol)! And those who speak with an accent too; fer-ge-da-boud-dit!

There's a woman at my church- I can lip-read her all day!
<"sigh">, if only the rest of humanity ..........

-charles
 
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