Hello everyone

HH scientist

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Hello everyone!

I am a newbie to this forum and I am looking forward to hearing the life stories of other people like me. I am completely deaf in one hear and about 50% in my other ear. I have never made acquaintance with other HOHs and I know only a few people who have 'normal' hearing. Communicating with strangers is as difficult as fleeing over the Berlin Wall.

I used to wear hearing aids for a while when was younger when they were still analog. Later, I switched to a digital hearing aid. In both cases, I felt that it was difficult to use and today I do not wear any device at all. In my case, I get the impression that hearing aids only create an illusion and false hope. I wonder whether people with a cochlear implant feel fully 'rehabilitated'.

My greatest interest is science and that is also what I do for a living (doing a PhD currently). It would be nice to hear from other people in academia how they deal manage to 'survive' in an environment that is not suited to them. I am very much into programming and maths/statistics, i.e. skills that require little communication, which is not surprising.

My greatest interest when I was younger was studying foreign languages. When I got older, it appeared that it was a big mistake. I am glad that I managed to switch.

In my free time, I like running and reading about science.
 
Hello, nice to meet you :)
Would it not be possible to try different types of hearing aids? You might find one that suits you
When they switched my hearing aids once everyone sounded like robots and it was horrible, and it never adjusted so I has to get them switched back to the older ones because appently my brain won't accept new technology and the hearing aids were hi-tech so maybe you have the same type of problem
 
Hello Krissy. Thanks for your reply.

Hello, nice to meet you :)
Would it not be possible to try different types of hearing aids? You might find one that suits you
When they switched my hearing aids once everyone sounded like robots and it was horrible, and it never adjusted so I has to get them switched back to the older ones because appently my brain won't accept new technology and the hearing aids were hi-tech so maybe you have the same type of problem

Without a hearing aid, I can hear someone within 2 meters. Anything beyond that is just silent (I suppose that an extreme type of near-sightedness is a good analogy.). I cannot hear two people speaking at the same time. With a hearing aid, I hear better, on condition that it is completely silent in the background. If there is some noise, I have to take out my hearing aid, and I find that to be awkward.

To be honest, I think that all I that I need is some patience. Take a look at what this guy has got to say on Ted: Juan Enriquez (14:00-16:10). When our technology is becoming more advanced than our biology, anything can happen.

I reckon that once they are able to grow stem cells properly, then you can make any biological tissue cheaply and easily (if stem cells don't grow, it is not helpful. If they grow too much, you get cancer. It is a fine balance.). You could grow a heart or kidney for organ transplant in the body, or skin to treat burns. As for deaf people, you could grow cochlear nerves needed for hearing. Cochlear implants without the need for an existing cochlear nerve would be a powerful device indeed.

The point that I am trying to make is that cochlear implants (or some other thing in the future) will give you better hearing than two normal ears. I think that I can wait for that to happen.
 
Hello Krissy. Thanks for your reply.



Without a hearing aid, I can hear someone within 2 meters. Anything beyond that is just silent (I suppose that an extreme type of near-sightedness is a good analogy.). I cannot hear two people speaking at the same time. With a hearing aid, I hear better, on condition that it is completely silent in the background. If there is some noise, I have to take out my hearing aid, and I find that to be awkward.

To be honest, I think that all I that I need is some patience. Take a look at what this guy has got to say on Ted: Juan Enriquez (14:00-16:10). When our technology is becoming more advanced than our biology, anything can happen.

I reckon that once they are able to grow stem cells properly, then you can make any biological tissue cheaply and easily (if stem cells don't grow, it is not helpful. If they grow too much, you get cancer. It is a fine balance.). You could grow a heart or kidney for organ transplant in the body, or skin to treat burns. As for deaf people, you could grow cochlear nerves needed for hearing. Cochlear implants without the need for an existing cochlear nerve would be a powerful device indeed.

The point that I am trying to make is that cochlear implants (or some other thing in the future) will give you better hearing than two normal ears. I think that I can wait for that to happen.

Hmm..your hearing seems very specific. You know like you have different settings on hearing aids? The one where you can turn off the background noise, doesn't that help you rather than having to take it out?

And that honestly sounds fantastic..although how long would it actually take for that to happen? It'd be great it if ever works out properly without severe side effects
 
Hmm..your hearing seems very specific. You know like you have different settings on hearing aids? The one where you can turn off the background noise, doesn't that help you rather than having to take it out?

I have not been wearing a hearing aid regularly for >5 years, so it has been a while. As far as I remember it back when I had was that it had limited usefulness. It feels a bit artificial, like Darth Vader breathing with that heavy mask and speaking awkwardly.

As for my hearing, I am glad that I am able to hear, although I can only speak to a few people at the same time.

The only awkward thing is when you meet people who expect you to have a large social circle and be talkative. Everyone that happens, I feel that I have to 'defend' myself. I am much more of a thinker than doer, but I know that there are other people like me so I cannot complain really. And I have job (science, research) where it is more important to think and be clear than to have a large social circle, so I will be fine.

And that honestly sounds fantastic..although how long would it actually take for that to happen? It'd be great it if ever works out properly without severe side effects

As for side effects, I am not sure. There will be side effects, but if it is lower than it is for medicine today, I don't think that people will want to stop it from happening. And if works too, that will be an extra plus. If you are really interested, keep reading below.

Technology is moving ahead very quickly indeed. I think that we will see lab-grown biological tissue before the end of this decade. It is hard to say really, because it is technology that has not yet been invented.

I will draw two analogies. Twenty years ago, no one had mobile phones except lawyers, businessmen, and so on, in Western countries. Today, even poor people (more than half of the population) in developing countries such as China and India have mobile phones. That is a success story taking place in less than 20 years.

Second, we have gene sequencing. All living beings - bacteria, viruses, cells in human beings like you and me - have DNA that is used to produce biological tissue and do all other things to do with biological processes. DNA is an exact sequence of molecules denoted by four letters: A, C, G and T. Each letter at a specific position is called a base-pair. The exact sequence of base-pairs is what makes individuals and species unique in this world.

Finding the exact sequence is called gene sequencing and it is costly. There is data going back 30 years, I think, of how costly it is to reveal the letter of one base-pair. Over the last 10 years, that cost has fallen by 20-90% per year which is a lot. It is falling so quickly, that we will probably be able to find the exact DNA sequence of every person on this planet before the end of this decade (today there might a few thousand). Our understanding of biology will explode and this also makes it possible to find cures and treatments for all sorts of diseases.

What was true for mobile phones will be true for these analogies too. There is no exact timetable, but by 2015, I think that we will start seeing things occur in health care.

Only one disease has been eradicated and all vaccines to date have treated bacteria and viruses only and were mainly effective in Western countries. There has never been a vaccine against parasites such as malaria, and the technology that I am talking about will make it possible to treat all such diseases (that they have Africa, South America, and so on) and diseases involving bacteria and viruses too. We just have to sit down and have some patience.
 
:welcome: to AllDeaf forum. I don't like having medical and science people trying to fix deaf and hard of hearing just because hearing is important. To the Deaf community and myself, we just happen to be either born or became ill with hearing loss. It is simply the fact that we would rather be deaf than be hearing at all. Hearing people don't understand that at all. We had enough suffering having them fix us so that we are not allow to sign or be in a Deaf school so that it would be easy to understand in the classrooms. Same for public places when we need ASL interpreters like doctors and lawyers. We can manage just fine without having the hearing people bug us about the new technologies like strong hearing aids or CI. We just love to communicate in ASL signs better than trying to lipread. Stem cell and CI are all a pipe dream to the hearing people thinking that they are miracles. Yeah, right (sarcasm) :roll:

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading and posting all the thread here. See you around here. :wave:
 
:welcome: to AllDeaf forum. I don't like having medical and science people trying to fix deaf and hard of hearing just because hearing is important. To the Deaf community and myself, we just happen to be either born or became ill with hearing loss. It is simply the fact that we would rather be deaf than be hearing at all. Hearing people don't understand that at all. We had enough suffering having them fix us so that we are not allow to sign or be in a Deaf school so that it would be easy to understand in the classrooms. Same for public places when we need ASL interpreters like doctors and lawyers. We can manage just fine without having the hearing people bug us about the new technologies like strong hearing aids or CI. We just love to communicate in ASL signs better than trying to lipread. Stem cell and CI are all a pipe dream to the hearing people thinking that they are miracles. Yeah, right (sarcasm) :roll:

I like people who stick to their opinions, so I will try to respect you. I suppose that there are different cultures and subcultures within the HOH and deaf communities. I am not aware of all the differences yet. But I am trying to learn.

I have never known or made acquaintance to another HOH or deaf person before (except an old grandmother). Nor have I learnt SL in any language (English is not my first language).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading and posting all the thread here. See you around here. :wave:

If you could see me now, it would be hard for me to hide my enthusiasm. I have never had so much fun taking part in discussions before. :wave:
 
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