Difference between HARD of HEARING and DEAF

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ambrosia said:
I think it might just depend on who you're talking to, and their opinions on the subject. :giggle:

Apparently none of knows lol, I think it's more important how you feel about it than how anyone else feels about it though.
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yeah, and just now ive attempt to bring into flesh of that 'unseen boundary' you 'speaking of'...
 
VacationGuy234 said:
YOU consider yourself deaf with a capital D, but do your friends consider YOU Deaf with a capital D? Seriously, think about that for a minute. Because if they do, then they really have to re-think what is, in fact, the Deaf Community.

The Deaf people that I know do not wear hearing aids. They would laugh at me when I tell them I'm going to someday lose my hearing. They do not see anything wrong with not having any hearing. I don't judge them for that belief and they don't judge me for my belief, but it is plain to us that we are different.

If that basic fact is not understood, then audism can not be understood. Really, there would be no such thing as audism if everyone thought it is OK to try and hear any way you can, right?
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I assume they do consider me Deaf with a capital D.

But, guess what?

I don't care if they do or don't.

What's important is what *I* identify myself as. Not what others may label me as. That goes for everybody. We've all said so many times here on AD for each person to identify themselves as they are comfortable doing so.

Sounds like your "Deaf Community", wherever you live, isn't nice to you. Where I live, we respect others, regardless of hearing loss. I live in a LARGE Deaf community -- others who are here on AD that know where I live (because they live in the same area or have in the past) can testify to that. I don't think I have ever run across a situation here where I live where somebody was laughed at or judged for wearing HAs or wanting to. Nobody even looks. Everybody comes to the Deaf club as they are. Period.
 
ambrosia said:
I consider myself both as well, I refer to myself as either, but most hearing people I know refer me as being deaf. The way I see it, unaided I'm deaf, aided I'm HoH, because aided I can hear, it's just hard :giggle:
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^^^in between a rock and a hard place
 
VacationGuy234 said:
YOU consider yourself deaf with a capital D, but do your friends consider YOU Deaf with a capital D? Seriously, think about that for a minute. Because if they do, then they really have to re-think what is, in fact, the Deaf Community.

The Deaf people that I know do not wear hearing aids. They would laugh at me when I tell them I'm going to someday lose my hearing. They do not see anything wrong with not having any hearing. I don't judge them for that belief and they don't judge me for my belief, but it is plain to us that we are different.

If that basic fact is not understood, then audism can not be understood. Really, there would be no such thing as audism if everyone thought it is OK to try and hear any way you can, right?
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i know what you're getting at, but its never that plain, sorry have to disagree with this statement, but as a description its fine...
 
AlleyCat said:
I assume they do consider me Deaf with a capital D.

But, guess what?

I don't care if they do or don't.

What's important is what *I* identify myself as. Not what others may label me as. That goes for everybody. We've all said so many times here on AD for each person to identify themselves as they are comfortable doing so.

Sounds like your "Deaf Community", wherever you live, isn't nice to you. Where I live, we respect others, regardless of hearing loss. I live in a LARGE Deaf community -- others who are here on AD that know where I live (because they live in the same area or have in the past) can testify to that. I don't think I have ever run across a situation here where I live where somebody was laughed at or judged for wearing HAs or wanting to. Nobody even looks. Everybody comes to the Deaf club as they are. Period.
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Allycat, I'm sorry, I hate be the one to break this to you and this is not sarcasm, but, people who don't feel deafness is a problem, don't wear hearing aids or CI's. I can't make it any plainer than that and I don't mean it in a bad way. It's just a fact. You wear the aid because you feel there is a problem. Hey, it's OK, I do too.

It's like being gay. You can act it and you can hang around people who are, but it's really not the same thing.
 
ambrosia said:
I consider myself both as well, I refer to myself as either, but most hearing people I know refer me as being deaf. The way I see it, unaided I'm deaf, aided I'm HoH, because aided I can hear, it's just hard :giggle:
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That is how I consider myself, however, how should we consider ourselves when our batteries get weaker? Almost deaf? Harder of hearing? Junior militants?

:hmm:
 
Shara said:
This is getting more an more complicated I have moderate-severe in my right ear and moderate-severe to profound in my left ear. I wear a Bone Anchored Hearing, I am able to talk to people and use the phone an all of that, not anywhere near perfectly but I can. Is this not HoH or is HoH a person who is deaf 90db but can hear some stuff with HA that amplify residual hearing loss. Also I've never heard of HoH and deaf are basically both deaf....see how I'm getting a bit confused here.....?
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I was like that before my CI's. I did not know any sign language until I went to NTID...and all the ASL-only folks avoided me like the plague....until I learned ASL/PSL, then they started to feel more comfortable hanging out with me.

My opinion....you are being judged based not so much on the issue of what you are (deaf, hoh) but how you communicate.

I met a couple of hearing folks that pretended for months that they were deaf, and none of us could tell because they were so good with mannerisms, language, and behavior of grassroots deaf folks. They never denied they were hearing the entire time. That is proof right there of my theory.
 
VacationGuy234 said:
Allycat, I'm sorry, I hate be the one to break this to you and this is not sarcasm, but, people who don't feel deafness is a problem, don't wear hearing aids or CI's. I can't make it any plainer than that and I don't mean it in a bad way. It's just a fact. You wear the aid because you feel there is a problem. Hey, it's OK, I do too.

It's like being gay. You can act it and you can hang around people who are, but it's really not the same thing.
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I wear my HAs because I *want* to. I don't need to. I choose to because I happen to like sounds. Does that mean I feel it's a problem? Heck no.

Sorry to break it to you that YOU must feel it's a problem. To each their own.

I don't even understand the gay reference. Whatever. :roll:
 
Deaf people invite me to visit them and have fun playing with their pets and eating good food.

Hoh people have lots of angst, worry about where they fit in, and apparently don't have pets for companionship and joy.
 
Bottesini said:
Deaf people invite me to visit them and have fun playing with their pets and eating good food.

Hoh people have lots of angst, worry about where they fit in, and apparently don't have pets for companionship and joy.
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I go to my Deaf friends' houses solely to play with their cats. ;)
 
AlleyCat said:
I wear my HAs because I *want* to. I don't need to. I choose to because I happen to like sounds. Does that mean I feel it's a problem? Heck no.

Sorry to break it to you that YOU must feel it's a problem. To each their own.

I don't even understand the gay reference. Whatever. :roll:
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Deaf people in England see hearing aids and cochlear implant as cruelty I.e. if a parent decided to give their child HAs or CIs, they would see the parent being cruel to the child and class it as abuse. That show's how extreme it can get between being deaf and Deaf!

The Deaf culture in England would never accept a person who uses CIs or HAs as a friend even if they signed 24/7.
 
Bottesini said:
Deaf people invite me to visit them and have fun playing with their pets and eating good food.

Hoh people have lots of angst, worry about where they fit in, and apparently don't have pets for companionship and joy.
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Guess that makes me deaf. My two kitties are here on the bed with me. :)
 
ambrosia said:
I consider myself both as well, I refer to myself as either, but most hearing people I know refer me as being deaf. The way I see it, unaided I'm deaf, aided I'm HoH, because aided I can hear, it's just hard :giggle:
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Put it this way, when you renew your driver's license and in the restrictions/handicap section do you put down normal hearing with the fine print that you have to wear hearing aids?
 
Shara said:
I am confused I have moderate to severe hearing loss, I am mod -severe to profound in my left ear an mod-severe in my right, and I still talk on the phone...
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Do you have a purely conductive loss as you use a BAHA?

Conductive losses are easily aided and you don't get the distortion problems that you get with sensorineural losses.

That properly why you can use the phone easily?!
 
A Nihilist said:
Put it this way, when you renew your driver's license and in the restrictions/handicap section do you put down normal hearing with the fine print that you have to wear hearing aids?
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I've never actually seen that seen that section and have never filled it out, and through talking to people at the DMV everytime I've gone I have obvious hearing issues and they've never told me to put it down on there. I have no restrictions on my license :)
 
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NaidaUP said:
Deaf people in England see hearing aids and cochlear implant as cruelty I.e. if a parent decided to give their child HAs or CIs, they would see the parent being cruel to the child and class it as abuse. That show's how extreme it can get between being deaf and Deaf!

The Deaf culture in England would never accept a person who uses CIs or HAs as a friend even if they signed 24/7.
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Finally! Thank you.

I was beginning to regret the last mass exodus from Alldeaf.
 
A Nihilist said:
Put it this way, when you renew your driver's license and in the restrictions/handicap section do you put down normal hearing with the fine print that you have to wear hearing aids?
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thats the bit i dont like ...small prints that discriminate or catergorise us
 
NaidaUP said:
Sounds like the extreme different between deaf and Deaf is in the US as well...
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To be fair, it's like politics and religion, we don't talk about either in public. So, people here are for the most part polite.
 
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