No, no, your questions aren't silly Jamie! I have also been told that hoh tend to mumble more beecause that is how they hear and interpret speech - a bunch of mumbling!
However one poster brings up CIs. I always thought that pre-lingual unilateral deafness did not qualify for a CI, however as time progresses along with the eventual loss of hearing completely in my right ear, HAs may not be effective for me and I may eventually get a CI.
Back on track to the main topic mumbling refers to the low volume of speech that is unintelligible to the audience.
Like for instance having the TV volume set to low - you know the people are talking but you can't quite make out what they are saying - that is mumbling.
I know my parents only wanted the best for me but I believe they were fed a lot of oralist rubbish about deafness when they first found out I was deaf and believed that I would be 'better off' learning speech and whatnot. Given that at the time I already knew what speech was and where it originated and that it is a method of communication, I believe I would have benefitted extremely well with a Bi-Bi approach to a full language acquisition.
Now get this, my speech is rather unintelligible at times, but my writing is extremely clear. I believe this is because of my heavy dependence on written instructions in school and having to write notes and email my peers while I was in school in order to effectively communicate.
I also absolutely HATE being called upon in class to read parts of a play from the text, or to give an oral presentation due to my speech. Not that it's completely unintelligible, Im just afraid I will speak too fast and/or mumble and sound like a mentally handicapped person when that is not at all the case. (and I don't intend to harm anyone who has a mental handicap or has a family member with a handicap when I say that).
Sometimes when I am at Wal-Mart and I find myself really stumbling over my speech - I will whip out the phone and write my request on the notepad feature. Some of the sales people there are aware of my deafness and know that I have trouble with my speech some - but they also know I am not a complete idiot either, despite the stereotype that bad speech also equate bad intelligence.
Now another question; would I benefit from speech therapy through VRS now to possibly improve my speech or would it be an entire waste of time? If not speech therapy exact, then perhaps are there speech excercises I could do on my own to help improve it?
