Hard-Of-Hearing Calling Themselves Deaf?

deafdyke said:
Yeah, but the definition of hoh is that they can hear sounds in speech range with HAs.
I consider myself deaf b/c while I can hear speech even without lipreading, it's usually with someone who's a good speaker.
Also I can't hear some male voices even with HAs. I also can't hear thunder unless its directly overhead with aids.
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I'm the opposite I can't hear some female voices with HA, or the brakes squealing. High frequency sounds is what I can't hear at all. Low frequency sounds such as male voices(not always understanding) and thunder I can hear with HA.

I always have to be able to see the person speaking male or female so I can combine sounds with lipreading to know what they are saying,
 
I am proud of be deaf. I can hear if I wear hearing aid. I would be hard of hearing but I prefer not because I love to be deaf. I cannot stand the noise.
 
As other people have said, there is nothing offensive about you calling yourself Deaf. While I might find it a bit strange if someone with mild and nonprogressive hearing loss did so, for someone with moderate or worse, seems fine to me.
 
I met an old man who had CI... he said he still calls himself Deaf instead of deaf....
 
I'm Hoh, but I also think of myself as Deaf ...

I speak and with my HA I can "Get by" orally in quiet, but I also use ASL, I value Deaf Culture and Identity ... and while I'm might not 100% fit in the Deaf World ... I will never fit in the Hearing World. I actually talked to many of my Deaf friends from Deaf families and asked what they thought of me identifying as Hoh/Deaf and they all were very supportive - When meeting new people who are Deaf or Hoh I do provide all the appropriate history so it's not as if I'm "pretending to be something I'm not"

not sure if that helps any ?

I'm proud to be Deaf
 
Hi Anji! Nice to see you come out of the woodwork!

nd while I'm might not 100% fit in the Deaf World ... I will never fit in the Hearing World.
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Exactly. Which is why I always encourage hearing parents to expose their dhh kids to the Deaf world as WELL as the hearing world!
Hoh kids have always been encouraged to be pretty much hearing, and ignore their deaf side.
 
Some deaf people consider me as HOH because I speak. I consider myself Deaf because of the 95 DB & 97 DB hearing loss. I feel the most comfortable with ASL than speaking. Go ahead and consider yourself Deaf. You don't have to tell that to your family.
 
I am deaf despite to the fact I wear hearing aides. I sign and speak very well but I still consider myself deaf.
 
To be "Deaf" is an audiological circumstance for some.

To be "Deaf" is an indentity circumstance for some.

To be Deaf and to, undeniably, know it is heaven.
 
I am technically HOH (still can hear at a moderate level in quiet environment with HAs, but with my ears how they are I don't know how long that'll last). But when I explain to people, I tell them I am Deaf. Especially hearing people. Because I noticed that when I say I am HOH they act like I am hearing and expect me to hear everything with AND without my HAs, even when I cannot. So I say Deaf, it makes it easier, an it's become part of my identity.
 
DeafCapricorn said:
I'm hard-of-hearing, due to the fact that I wear a hearing aid.

However, I am completely deaf since without my hearing I can only sense vibrations, unless there is a very high volume level of sound, but even then I can only make out so much of what is said, and the source is hard to pinpoint.

So, I was wondering, is it offensive or wrong that I consider myself deaf?
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Why would it be offensive or wrong? You are deaf regardless of you having a hearing aid or not.

Deafness comes in many different flavors. You don't have to be 100% deaf to be deaf. Matter of fact, I did a report on this once, only 3-5% of all deaf people in America are 100% deaf.
 
i used to only consider myself hoh because I cant sign. Maybe deaf is more applicable.
 
From a legal standpoint, if you can't hear crap w/o your hearing aids, then you're legally deaf.

I'm that guy as well.
 
Tousi said:
I think we, for cultural purposes, need to get away from the "d" and "D" distinctions. It's just that the medical model is standing in the way of this....if that could somehow be shoved aside, then from within the cultural model, the two distinctions should be torn asunder.
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You have a couple of excellent points, Tousi. The first is in English there is no special distinction that comes from arbitrary capitalization of a common noun, except that careful and knowledeable readers know it's a bogus attempt to convince others of inflated importance. We tend to do that with all kinds of words. Some of it comes from the language’s Germanic roots. In German, all nouns are capitalized.

I think fear of God started it. "I begged God to help me" is correct; it's used as a name. However, "I begged my God to help me" is incorrect, because in this case, the speaker is not using a name of a specific deity, only the general term for one of several deities. It's not blasphemy; it's just that in the context, god is a common noun.

Not to be outdone, royalty wanted king and queen capitalized next, even when it was “The queen visited The House of Lords today.” “Queen” is a common noun, but House of Lords is a proper place.

Then of course we in the Americas want our positions of prime minister and president to be capitalized at all time. Sorry, it’s just as wrong as the king's English.

We Catholics are guilty of spreading the false idea that capitalization somehow means respect. We see Father, Sister, and Brother as part of clerical titles, so we capitalize them all the time and extend it to mother, mom, dad, etc.

In addition to teaching duties, I was the education director at a campus hospital. Naturally, the physicians think they’re god-like, so they wanted “doctor” capitalized. I spent a lot of time editing them down to size. But then nurses thought they were every bit as important as doctors, so they wanted their profession elevated to proper noun. Next the physical therapists figured they make as much money as nurses (and some doctors) so they want in on the grand pretense. It goes on and on within the medical profession until it’s ridiculous.

Naturally, we teachers want our profession to begin with a capital--actually, I think it should be TEACHER in all caps.

The difference between "I am deaf" and "I am Deaf" is really nothing but confusing pretense.
 
i never thought of that. I've always seen the capitalization of "deaf" as a way to summarize a concept. when a person says they are Deaf, they are saying that they are a member of deaf culture and communicate using American Sign Language. saying "Deaf" instead of dragging out that full sentence is just more concise. there is no difference between "prime minister" and "Prime Minister" or "doctor" and "Doctor", but there are huge differences between "deaf" and "Deaf". i suppose they could have invented a new word for it altogether?
 
I've always considered myself hard of hearing. I have never been exposed to Deaf culture to know any better than to label myself as my audiologist labels me. I have basic knowledge of ASL but minimal contact with the language. It seems simplier to call myself hard of hearing when I can talk and function alright in the hearing world than to explain that how a deaf person can speak. I can't hear much though like many of you. Some low pitch, but nill high pitch. Wear HA's, but I take them off all the time. My roommates wake me up for fire alarms and such.

Jaden
 
kimpossible said:
i never thought of that. I've always seen the capitalization of "deaf" as a way to summarize a concept. when a person says they are Deaf, they are saying that they are a member of deaf culture and communicate using American Sign Language. saying "Deaf" instead of dragging out that full sentence is just more concise. there is no difference between "prime minister" and "Prime Minister" or "doctor" and "Doctor", but there are huge differences between "deaf" and "Deaf". i suppose they could have invented a new word for it altogether?
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I thought the same as well.

I've seen dates rejected, invitations rejected, conversations rejected... because of this concept. One gal was interested in this one guy, but this guy rejected her emphasizing that she had hearing parents. He even signed "Deaf" pointing to himself and then signed "deaf" pointing at her. I've been rejected because I'm hard-of-hearing and don't "understand what they want".
 
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