"Full deaf"?

katz4life

katz4life

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I've thought about this for a while after I've encountered the numbers of starting conversation with deafies via online chat. Each one of them usually ask me the same question, "are you full deaf?" Now I'm not sure what it actually means. I only thought it may mean 120 dB hearing loss. Sometimes I didn't know what to answer and didn't want to lie or misunderstand him/her except my usual answer was "No, not really, both of my ears are profound- severe and use PSE and ASL.

"Are you full deaf?" What does it mean to you?
 
I've never heard that. I myself am total deaf, but I usually just say that I am deaf. My last audiogram had me at the 120db with arrows pointing downward and notes that said, "no tones registered, no sound registered, did not test speech recognition as there is no hearing at all."
 
i am stone deaf. but i can still feel some sounds like gunfire . or really high pitch that hurts the ears, even though i hear nothing
 
The question has been asked of me also, numerous times....My reply is "yes", I'm profound deaf, deaf as a doornail, stone deaf, etc., etc. ...However, I do get those "suspicious" looks, since I'm verbal (like Kristina is)....
 
rockin'robin said:
The question has been asked of me also, numerous times....My reply is "yes", I'm profound deaf, deaf as a doornail, stone deaf, etc., etc. ...However, I do get those "suspicious" looks, since I'm verbal (like Kristina is)....
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Same problem here as well. I dont care anymore. Let people think whatever they want about my hearing status as long as they respect the fact that I need some accodomations on their part to meet my communication needs. If they call me a liar or tell me I am faking it, it is bye bye to them.
 
yeah, one time with another conversation from online chat with a deaf person accused me of lying about being full deaf after my answer yes to his question "are you full deaf?" Because I like to go to music concerts and use almost Total Communication - i.e. I sign SEE/PSE with my voice on at the same time. It confused me...so that's why I wasn't sure what "full deaf" mean so I tend to avoid to say yes or no but with full explanation.
 
Another interpretation: It could be asking if you are a life-long Big D deafie fully immersed in the culture.

P.S. In fact, I am pretty sure that's what he/she meant when asking katz
 
Tousi said:
Another interpretation: It could be asking if you are a life-long Big D deafie fully immersed in the culture.

P.S. In fact, I am pretty sure that's what he/she meant when asking katz
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That's the context it's in when people ask if I am "full Deaf," when I asked them to explain.
 
I just took my HA off and I'm full deaf now! :ugh3:
 
Tousi said:
Thanks, Souggy.
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Well, at first, I thought they meant "cuturally deaf" because it's not uncommon for people to sign "full German" "full Polish" and so on when talking about their ethnic background; however "deaf" could means lots of things, so I had to ask to make sure rather than winging it.
 
If I had to "guess" I would think they mean audiologically "deaf"- ie having bilateral hearing loss greater than 90db - which is audiologically considered "profoundly deaf" , or at least means that without HA/CI you aren't able to understand ANY speech by listening alone (ie not speechreading etc)

I sort of understand why people might ask this ...
I'm always VERY upfront with Deaf I meet that I'm Hoh/Deaf - I'm totally deaf on my right, but am mild/mod Hoh on my left. This means that depending on the situation I may either:
*Understand a LOT of speech (very quite room, one-to-one conversation) OR
*Be "functionally deaf", meaning I'm unable to understand ANY speech with or without my HA and must 100% rely on speechreading,writing back & forth or ASL/PSE etc.

This can be VERY confusing to both hearing & HOh/Deaf because in my case it's SO extreme ... I am unable to understand anything at all if there is much background noise - not only because I only have one side that is able to hear anything (left, mild/mod flux) but also because of the APD which adds additional noise/confusion/etc to listening environment ... and some times if I'm too overwhelmed my sounds my brain simply stops processing ANY auditory info ... it all either becomes like "white noise" or completely silent - even in a VERY noisy room (a VERY odd experience that first few times!!)


FWIW, I've also met a LOT of hearing people who say they are "a little deaf sometimes" - but the truth is that they are able to carry on a conversation withOUT hearing aids or speechreading, from half way across a room with their back turned!!

When asked about their hearing loss these people: have typically never ever been to an audiologist, are able to use a standard phone easily, are able to carry on conversations out of "eye-sight" range. In some cases when asked about their hearing they actaully have the decency to admit that what they REALLY mean is that they have trouble focusing sometimes/daydream or have "selective hearing".
Almost exclusively the "I'm a little deaf sometimes" comment is a response to my stating that I'm Hoh/Deaf (+120db right, mild/mod flux left & APD) - I guess they feel they're "bonding" with me or something ??

While I understand that they don't mean to be offensive ... it DOES bother me when hearing people use the "oh yea I'm a bit deaf too" (sometimes followed by the even more insulting phrase " or maybe it's just selective hearing ;) ;) you know what I mean ;) ;) " - implying that because they are inventing their hearing issues ... I'm inventing my hearing loss as well!! GRR!!
 
I'm not full deaf. It means I can hear some with technical devices. If I don't wear hearing aids since from birth, I'll be full of deaf.
 
never heard hearie would ask you that, deafies would, so they mean full = profoundly deaf.

(sign "full" means same to sign "completely" so when they type english, their minds don't always convert into english, stuck on ASL and type in "full" - I'm lazy that way too). ;) makes sense?
 
oh shit not this again...

When a Deaf person asks if you're full deaf, they are asking if you're immersed in the culture as well.
 
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